The Alteration
by Vickie1
Summary: The Animorphs has been seen by a kid named Kimberly. But she's not seen them in real life but in dreams and they attract Yeerks and an old enemy. Its a race to save her, especially with a black-suited lady from the future aiding the Animorphs. DISCONTINUE! REVAMPED! GO LOOK AT THE OTHER IMPROVED VERSION! :(
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Anonymous**

_Eight years ago..._

Rain... It beats coldly on my face...like a precipitation of colorless and malleable cartridges.

This was the first time I have ever been in the rain and for the first time, under the gloomy weather, it was rather calming. As if a dark and ugly part of me has been cleansed.

How long has it been since I had such a soothing sensation? Perhaps, long before my childhood was rob from me...before I was hardened into the person that I stand today and shall be forever. A person fighting for so long, identified as nothing more than a constructive tool against any adversary...

I am that person, still fighting to this day. I have left behind the bloodstained site several hours ago where there are but corpses and only one survivor.

I slaughtered his combatants without mercy for the crime they had committed. The crime was the murder of two innocent bystanders and the attempt to forcefully recruit a child to add to their growing army for the war.

I rescued that child but I could not save those people. She was now somewhere safe. And by now, that child has been rescued by someone. That was both good and bad. She will be taken away from this terrible place...but she will never recover from the loss. That is her toll.

My enemies' blood is on my hands. I am now a threat to them and more will come after me.

But it does not matter to me. Let them come. I will eliminate them if they stay in my way. I will not be merciful to them. The punishment shall be held upon their heads because a small number of them thought those people were a risk to their secretive preparation for Earth's domination.

However, they are not the only ones who will be after me. Those two will come to test me like they had before, attending to enlist me to one side. Always there, never giving me a moment of rest.

Let Crayak come to taunt me and I will turn my back away again and again. Let the Ellimist approach to talk about my intrusion in the game I am holding to and I will ignore him continuously. Let them come.

I'd like to say well done to them. I can see that I am now a trump card but they have no control over me. They can move me but they won't improve me. They never had and they never will.

The game, the war, they do not matter to me. Only the accomplishment of my mission. Only the security of one individual matters. They are my top priority, my life and safety of others put second.

I have nothing to lose. I will not stop and hesitate. I must complete my mission. I must succeed and secure the existence of one. And when that time comes, I will pass my responsibilities and a secret to her.

But right now, let this sensation continue without fail. I want it to go on until the rain stops.

For the long journey has just begun...

* * *

Vickie: Prologue inspired by CSI Miami's song in episode 6 "Broken", "Gonna make it there" by Baxter. Very effective song that got me writing this. You can guess who's speaking this. I dare ya to get the answer before chp 13-14. Also, this chp was put in at the beginning after I wrote around chp 11 or so. [Edited]


	2. Runaway

**Chapter One: Runaway**

_**Kimberly**_

_It was a clear night and all the stars were out. A woman whose face I couldn't see looked at me, breathing heavily. She said something I couldn't hear, then stood up boldly and turned away. _

_The rest became black._

_I opened my eyes. I found myself alone, miles away from the nearest city, soaked in the cold rain and covered in dirt and soot. The wrinkled face of a Native American dressed in causal clothes gazed down at me, giving a look you'd often see in a grumpy old man who wanted to be away from society. I saw his large hands come close and I felt myself lifted up._

_That was the only first memory I ever had about my past. What happened before, I couldn't remember. Who I was, who or where my family was and most importantly, what was my name... All was a total blank in my head._

_I was only a child then. Found by Antinanco that early morning. He took care of me for a week and later handed me to the rangers. To tell you the truth, I didn't want to leave his side but Antinanco insisted, saying "You have a life to live, Little Citlali."_

_That was a nickname he gave me since I couldn't remember my real name. It meant 'star' in his language. _

_I never saw him again. I tried to get word for a few years, find out how he was doing but…it was like he disappeared from this world. I may not see him again but the words he told me, I kept them as a promise._

_I stayed in an orphanage for a while. I was adopted the next year and was renamed because my foster mother found the name I was given a little hard to pronounce. Even though she tried her best, I eventually decided to keep my new name. I liked it anyway. I grew up happy the next couple of years with my new family. I still missed Antinanco but I never forgot him._

_My name is Kimberly now and this is my story from the day I lived in this city to the day I died. I will tell you about me and how I was involved in this cluster of events._

_All because of my dreams and nightmares..._

_

* * *

_

**Ax**

My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. I am a young Andalite marooned on Earth. What is an Andalite, you ask?

For many humans, they would consider me frightening. I am not from this planet but from my homeworld far away from here. I was told I look like a cross between a human, a deer and a scorpion. I have four eyes: one pair on my face and one pair on top of my head. I have four legs and two hands with seven-digit fingers. I also have blue fur and a tail blade.

As an Andalite, I have the power to morph. Andalites are not born with it. It is a technology we invented. Only Andalites have this power. That is, except for my human friends. They can morph too, thank to the Andalite morphing technology, the Escafil Device and to my brother who broke our rules and gave it to them.

Five human children and one Andalite are the only defense that stands in the way of the Yeerks, which are currently invading Earth. What are they? Yeerks are a parasitic species that have evolved to climb into a host's ear and drill their way to the brain, where they take complete control the body. The host, in mind, is trapped and is unable to do anything except let their body be controlled.

Already, the Yeerks have taken a number of species in their control: Hork-Bajirs, Taxxons and now they are after humans. Many humans have been infested. They have no idea what's happening. Any human could be a Controller, a Yeerk-infested human. It is difficult to know who is a Controller.

Then again, it is also difficult to know the outcome of meeting – as what Marco would describe – "an oddball".

It was late one afternoon. That day, there was no intrusion of Yeerks trying to attempt another quick way of infesting more humans so Prince Jake decided we all should relax. I ran into the woods as I normally would do.

I was heading to where Tobias usually perch when I saw a human not far away. The face was mostly convealed by a long neck of a 'jacket' with a strange covering over the head.

I quickly hid from the human's line of view. However, the human did not seem to notice me and was more interested in the surroundings. The human pulled down the neck of the 'jacket' and took down the covering. I soon realized this human was a female.

She was slightly shorter than my human friends. She was light-skinned and averagely thin. The human pulled out her light brown hair from the ring of her clothing. It was longer than Cassie's but shorter than Rachel's. Some strands of hair hid away her left eye. In her possession was her backpack, a unique carrier humans put on their backs to transmit their items around manually. What was more, although seeing other human groups enjoy the alleged 'camping' in company outside this area of the forest, she was alone.

More or less, she was without human company. She was holding a sort of red rope connected to a dog. It was not like the Golden Retriever named Homer Prince Jake kept as his pet. It was not gold in color but rather mostly black, white along the chest and brown on the nose and legs. Her companion was a large dog with long thick hair and brown eyebrows.

It seemed odd to bring an animal such as that to this location. Then again, she herself was odd on many standards.

For a very long moment, she stared up. I did not know why. All she was seeing was the clear sky.

She dropped her bag aside. Then she fell back, letting gravity take her down. She landed on the grass, unbothered by any pain given from her fall. Sunlight bathed warmly over her face. Strangely, she was smiling with her eyes shut.

I have experienced many emotions as a human and have seen expressions among my human friends but I have not seen a human in that emotional stage for a very long period of time.

It was then I have noticed some of the contents of her bag had fallen out. Two triangular substances lay on the grass. They gave off a nice scent.

It was food. But what kind of food, I wondered. I had not seen these things in shapes, nor smelled this kind of scent. It was a blend of many aromas nicely put together.

Curiosity got the best of me, I admit it.

I decided to morph into human and sneak one. Perhaps she would not notice one piece missing. I was also well out of sight for her to see me morph.

My human morph might be unusual. That is because when I was first found by my human companions, I had absorbed their DNA to create a different person so I could fit in during my time on this planet.

I began to morph. My stalk eyes, my tail, two of my legs and extra fingers disappeared. My blue fur faded away into a hairless beige color. Soon I was on two wobbly legs and in a very thin garment. I went away to find where Cassie had hid away my clothing, in case I would need to morph to human in the woods. I found them twenty meters away and quickly put them on.

When I went back, she was still lying on the ground, still smiling. How very odd. Although I knew I might be detected by her sooner or later, the desire of tasting those triangular-shaped rations was great. It was making my human mouth fill with liquid. Slowly, I crept \to some bushes that were close to the food.

The dog twitched its ears.

"Grrrrrrr!" it growled.

"Malcolm?" she called to the dog, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

The dog dashed forward but was held back by the rope. That nearly pulled her onto her feet.

"Whoa! Stay, Malcolm! Stop! Easy, easy." She looked to the bushes. "Who's there?"

I quickly reached out and grabbed one. I guessed this was her only rations so taking both would surely make her upset. I took a bite but tasted nothing at first. I then noticed it was wrapped in a shiny transparent material.

I peeled it off. The substance underneath was soft and squishy. I bit into it.

The taste was wonderful. So many flavors and yet they all made it delicious. A white creamy substance squeezed onto my fingers. I licked them clean.

"Hello?" the human called out. She began to look nervous and tied the rope to a root. The dog whined and tried to follow but could not. She breathed in and out and slowly approached my hiding place.

"Please don't be a wolf. Please don't be a wolf," she kept on repeating tensely.

I had to get away. I was not sure if she was a Controller because I do not think a Yeerk would take the time to act as odd as she was, but I did not want to take the chance. I backed off quietly.

If only the rope was tied up some more.

The dog constantly pulled until the rope slipped free.

"Malcolm! No!" she yelled, grabbing for the rope. She clenched it tight.

The dog didn't halt. It dove under the bushes and came nose to nose with me. I jumped.

"AAHHH!" I shouted.

"GAAHHH!" she screamed. She took a moment to breathe. "Oh, jeez! You scared me to death! I thought it was a wolf... What the heck are you doing down there?"

"Uh, I was eating?" I answered, showing her the half-eaten food.

She looked at me for a moment. Then she suddenly burst into laughter.

"What is humorous?" I asked. I had expected she would show anger at me. She did not.

"I'm s-sorry... But I've never met anyone so gullible." She went on laughing, clenching her stomach. She stopped laughing and wiped her right eye with a sleeve. "If you wanted to eat, you should have asked me, not scared the heck out of me."

"I did not mean to frighten you. Fry-gh-ten."

"Well, it was a good scare. My name is Kimberly," she said. "And this is Malcolm."

"Kim-ber-lee. Nice sounds. Kim-ber-lee."

"Thanks, I think. What about yours?"

"I am Phillip," I replied. It was the name I use for my human morph.

Again, she giggled. This time, she was clenching her mouth.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"You got a smudge on you. You're not a very neat eater, are you? Here." She walked close to me, drawing her sleeve to my face. I backed away, wondering if this action was a new form of offense. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you, silly."

She cleaned off the smudge around my mouth slowly. Normally, I would prefer to lick the last bits and savor the taste while it lasted. However, I let her perform the strange ritual.

I examined her closely but the hair still covered her left eye. I wondered if she had something to hide under her hair. A secret of some sort.

She suddenly turned red on the cheeks and reared her arm away. She then scratched her head shamefacedly. "Sorry, my bad. I'm so used to cleaning my brother's mouth. My brother always gets ketchup or mustard on his face so I tend to wipe him up."

"It's alright," I told her.

"So, Phillip, what brings you here in these parts of the woods?" she asked, sitting down on a mold-infested log.

"Nothing brought me here. Hearr," I said and sat beside her.

"No, silly, I meant what reason did you come here? Hiking?"

"Yes, I was hiking. Hi-king," I replied. I did not know what this 'hiking' was but it was a reasonable answer to give.

"Ah-ha, hiking without shoes," she said, spotting I was not wearing any artificial hooves. I had forgotten those. Again, she laughed. But this time, softer than before. "You got a nice sense of humor, you know that. Are you with your family?"

"No, I am alone. A-lo-neh," I said, trying to act as human as I could while taking small bites. "What about yours?"

"I don't have one."

I was astonished when she easily said that. It puzzled me too of why she would say that.

"But you said you have a brother."

"Yeah but he's my foster brother. I'm adopted."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They died a long time ago," she said, still smiling.

"I am sorry. Sor-ree," I said.

"Don't be." How curious to say that, even when she was smiling. "It's not like it was your fault they're gone. It's nobody's fault. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember what my real parents look like or how they died... Hey, Phillip, you got good hearing?"

It seemed she purposely 'changed the subject', as Prince Jake would say. I think it was right to do so. I felt remorseful for this human. She did not know who her parents were or what happened to them. But somehow, I felt I should not persist on the subject when she was smiling optimistically.

"Yes, I have excellent hearing. Hea-ring," I said.

"Then you can hear Nature's calling, right?" Kimberly asked.

In my human morph, I gave a confused face. I did not completely understand. How could you hear the environment? It did not make sense.

"What do you mean? The environment cannot speak words to us."

Kimberly gave a faint but hearty laugh. "Of course it can. Nature's just very soft. A friend of me told me that only a few can really listen to what she has to say."

"I do not get it. The natural world is a person?"

"She is. Just invisible," she said. "But you can hear her crystal clear. Close your eyes."

I

wondered if this was another human custom so I did what she told me. I closed my eyes.

"Now, relax. Don't concentrate. Let your senses do the work, not your mind. Listen."

It was very puzzling at first. I could not hear any words other than Kimberly's.

I however heard these sounds. They were very faint but I could hear them with these human ears. The sound of the air blowing through the treetops was above us. Further away was the sound of small birds calling in their animal sounds and somewhere I heard running water.

"Hear that? The leaves shaking, the birds singing and the river moving?"

I opened my eyes and looked at her. She also had her eyes close. Slowly, she opened them and glanced at me with her smile.

Her eyes were most remarkable. I had first thought her eyes were the color of green like any other humans' eyes but then as her hair lifted up by the wind, I took notice of her left eye. It was a complete blue color, like my Andalite fur.

I have seen many eyes, each pair in one different color: brown, black, blue, green, gray, but I have never seen two eyes with two different colors.

"That's Nature calling," said Kimberly.

It was stunning, seeing her close up. I quickly turned away.

"Something wrong, Phillip?" Kimberly asked.

"...I-I...I still do not understand." I was having difficulty speaking. It was not because I was playing with my words but because of this giddy feeling. It was as if something was pitting in my stomach. What was this a human reaction?

"Hee-hee. That was actually what I said to my old friend. I didn't understand too. But he told me there's nothing to understand about. I only had to listen to her whenever I wanted to," she said. "It's been a long time since I've listen to Nature. A very long time..."

I watched her stare up to the sky before she gave a light sigh.

"It's getting late. You should probably go home now," said Kimberly and started going through her backpack. She pulled out a large soft material, rolled-up like a Puff pastry. I have tasted one before.

"Should you not go to your house too? Ho-use," I said.

"Nope," she answered, surprising me. "This is my home now. I like it here. It's close to Nature. Besides, I don't think I'll ever go back home."

"Why?" I asked.

Her hands stopped moving.

"Kimberly?"

After a silent moment, she looked at me, again with a smile but it was a delicate one.

"Let's just say I'm running away from something," was her answer. She turned back to the backpack.

"What are you running away from?"

She sighed again.

"You wouldn't believe me," she said worriedly.

"Why would I not believe you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Because...! Well... Um... You would think I was crazy and need to go to the nuthouse."

"I would not think that." I was interested in what a 'nuthouse' was but I didn't ask.

Her face was meaningful and somewhat troubled. She then asked me this odd question.

"Do you have dreams?" she asked. "Dreams that are scary?"

I did not know how to answer that.

"I've been dreaming a lot, about things that don't make sense," she continued, her arms wrapped around her knees. "I don't remember how long it's been but I have them every night and...I'm scared...that these dreams I'm having might be true... And they might hurt someone... That's why I'm running away. I don't want anyone to get hurt. If I run away as far as possible, then maybe no on will get hurt."

There was a long pause.

"Silly, isn't it? Dreams can't come true." She laughed again but sounded unsure of herself. "But they all seemed too real."

Kimberly was still smiling but I could tell she was unhappy.

"I do not understand what is there to fear from dreams," I said carefully. "Are not dreams pleasant?"

"Yeah... People would dream of rainbow ponies and licorice waterfalls. But my dreams are a little different. I always see the same people and the same monsters. I don't see their faces but I know they're the same. Sounds weird, huh?" she explained. "What's worse, in my dreams I hear people screaming."

She looked up at the orange sky and got off the log, brushing off any dirt from her pants. "I think you should get going now. It's gonna be nightfall soon. And I only have one sandwich for dinner tonight."

She was not only right. I was close to the two-hour time limit. It later surprised me how exactly one hour, forty minutes and twenty-nine seconds went by in an unusual way.

Time had passed quickly. I needed to demorph soon but I wished to stay a little longer.

"I would like to see you again." I did not know why I said that so easily and with plead. I just did.

She was surprised when I said that, then thought for a moment. "Hmm, well, I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon. Sure, how about tomorrow? Same place?"

"I would like that." I could not believe my luck.

"Okay then, it's a date."

I nodded and soon took my leave.

"Phillip?"

I turned back.

"Thanks for talking with me. It means a lot to me," she said.

I smiled. "You are welcome."

We said our goodbyes and I left. I walked far from her area. With minutes to spare, I demorphed and ran away.

What was I thinking? Of all the humans on this planet, I was having an effect to this human, a very odd human at that. What was wrong with me? Was I ill? I have no such reaction to Cassie and Rachel when I am in human morph. So why does this human make any difference?

I decided to go and see Cassie about this. Once there, I should have to inform the Animorphs about Kimberly's presence in the woods.

As I was about to leave, one of my stalk eyes spotted something.

A human, much taller and leaner than my human friends, stood not far off, staring at me. The human was wearing black apparel that seemed unearthly and not made on Earth. I could not see the face because the head was in a round and hard covering similar to the ones the humans wear while riding on thin transport machines on two primitive wheels.

I jerked and quickly looked to the direction of where the human stood. I feared that human could be a Controller.

But by the time I turned, the human was gone.

Perhaps it was my imagination. No human could move that swiftly. Were my eyes deceiving me?

I really needed to see Cassie.

* * *

_Some time ago, my foster family moved to this city. Since my adoption, everything was normal for me. I attended school and did great in schoolwork. Though, sometimes with the exception of Ds and Fs. _

_I had many friends and looked out for those in trouble. There were times I was bullied a little and there were times I was helped onto my feet. I liked art class and cooking. I hated nosy girls who had no business with people's privacy. And the cafeteria food._

_I love my foster family. My dad is gentle and kind, an ex-photographer and writer at heart and my mom is loveable and overprotective, working as head of a community center. And they love me and my brother so much._ _And there's Malcolm, the family pet. He follows me like a shadow or in my mom's case, a guardian angel._

_I have a little brother even though he's also my foster brother. His name is Baxter. He is a year younger than me but acts like he's the older sibling in our impenetrable duo. Baxter is the closest to me._

_He was the only one who knew why I ran away. He kept it as a secret from our parents because I made him promise he wouldn't tell them._

_I used to be very happy. But as the days went by, so did the dreams grow more terrifying. And with each passing night, they grew scarier than the one before. Sometimes, they were peaceful but most of the times, I would see the monsters in them._

_They became worse three weeks ago. And so on and so forth. Only yesterday, I decided to run away..._

_

* * *

_

Author's Notes: Another attempt on an Animorphs fanfic. Okay, sue me but this one is a little different, I'm betting. Just like any other fanfic you'd read, it's all about an OC that somehow finds out about the Animorphs that you know will always lead to recruiting her/him cuz they know the secret. BUT what if it's a whole different reason of recruiting them cuz it's something much bigger than "oh, he found the box" and they don't even know the secret? And besides, who says there's gonna be recruiting in the first place, hmmm?

Just so you know, I'm only using two OCs for this fanfic: Kimberly and the anonymous black-suited human. Who that human is, you'll just have to find out.

Oh, Kimberly's eye colors, I purposely gave her an odd look, fitting for an oddball like her. XD

Btw, the thin two-wheeled transport machines are 'motorcycles' if you don't get it. And Kimberly's dog is a rough-hair collie.

And if you readers have noticed, I've taken down my "The Paranormal" Animorphs-crossover fanfic cuz I want to copyright my characters when I publish my first book. Sorry guys, even though I really wanna show you how it's gonna turn out with my characters and the Animorphs, I've gotta do this first before I even think of doing a fanfic like this. Don't worry, I've still got the chapters so maybe after I published my book, I'll bring back the fanfic. In the meantime, I'll be working on this. Though it's gonna be a challenge cuz this fanfic was supposed to be a sequel to "The Paranormal" but see how I go.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy this more than my pervious fanfics.

And yes, Ax might fall in love with Kimberly. But being an oddball, I don't think she'll realize an alien like LIKES her... Then again, she'd think Ax is odd too with his word playing and all...

**EDIT:** Changed the dog from hard rough collie to Bernese Mountain Dog. Cuz every time I read this, collie reminds me of Lassie. =3=; Plus I find brown eyebrows cute on this breed. XD

Mind you, I love dogs but I love small dogs the most! –hugs her pets-


	3. Mixed Emotions

**Chapter Two: Mixed Emotions**

_**Kimberly**_

_Dreams are strange things in your head that comes when you shut your eyes. Some people say they can be visions or channels to your subconscious mind. They can be pleasant or downright scary._

_Then why am I so afraid of? Why would I result to running from home because of dreams? They were only dreams, you would say. Why did I even think they could come true?_

_Should I tell you what happened three weeks ago? Maybe, you'll understand better._

_I had a dream before. It was a person being devoured by something so black and spreading like a virus. It was too late when that friend was submerged in the blackness, screaming and crying. I couldn't bare the terrible cries, tried to cover my ears. Then I woke up, sweating. I didn't go back to sleep. I was too scared and concerned._

_I didn't know what that darkness was or why. But I knew that friend. I knew her._

_She was a very close friend. Her name was Lauren, lived next door to my house. We did things together like any girls. She tried to get me in her swim team, too._

_She sat beside me every Maths and Science and always said one guy in Science class was cute. I teased her that she didn't have the guts to ask him out. She'd laugh and say, "Perhaps I should do that. But you know me, I'm just yellow." She'd admit it without feeling shameful._

_Lauren's that type of girl. Proud and energetic._

_One day I told her about the dream in the girls' bathroom. She laughed, saying I was being silly and had such a good imagination. We left for the next class and as usual, I forgot about the dream. I have always ignored the dreams before. I thought they were nothing._

_I should have known they meant something..._

_

* * *

_

**Cassie**

I was wrapping clean bandages on the near burnt tail of a squirrel in the barn when Ax came in. It was late and my parents were in the house so it was safe for him to come by.

But that night, he looked a little worried. And tired, he looked as if he galloped all the way here in high speed.

"Hey, Ax," I greeted.

(Ax, where were you the whole afternoon? I was looking for you,) Tobias asked from above. He had arrived earlier, wondering if Ax was here or not. He was a bit anxious that Ax didn't show up where he normally perched. At least, Tobias didn't go too soon to look for him.

(Cassie... There is something wrong with me,) he started then stopped, like he was catching his breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

(I think I am sick,) he suddenly said.

"What?" I was hoping we wouldn't have to worry about any more Andalite sickness for a while. Ax just recently recovered from an illness and a successful brain surgery. Don't ask, it's a long story.

(I'd better get the others,) Tobias said and quickly took off. I turned my attention away from the squirrel, putting it back to its cage. Ax gave a troubled look.

(I had this rotating feeling in my abdomen. I thought I was feeling ill again,) said Ax.

"When was this?" I asked.

(I only experienced this unusual feeling when I was in human morph today. It happened whenever this female human smiled at me.)

There was a very long silence.

(Cassie, why are you smiling like that? This could be serious again.)

I couldn't help but beam so widely. I tried not to laugh.

I never thought this day could come.

"Ax, you're not ill," I told him. "You're lovesick."

(Is that something I should worry about?)

"No, of course not. It means you really like someone."

(Like...someone...?)

I could tell this was slowly registering into his mind. His eyes finally grew big. He freaked out right there on that spot.

(What!? I cannot like a human, a semi-sentient species!)

"Ax, calm down. It's natural to like someone."

(It is not when I am an Andalite and she is a human! This is absurd, so...wrong! I cannot like her!)

I wasn't sure if I could agree with him there. I don't think love between two different people, uh, I mean species sounds ridiculous. It sounded romantic in a way.

"Alright, Ax. If it's wrong, then you don't have to see that girl again. After that, I'm sure you'll get well."

He slugged his shoulders down. (But...I cannot stop thinking about her...the way her unusual eyes looked at me... It was wonderful.)

This is a classic sign of a crush. I couldn't believe this was happening in my own barn. An alien was having a crush on a human. If Marco was here to joke about this, I think Ax would have literally killed himself.

Ax became shocked, quickly realizing he was acting absentminded with what he was thought-speaking. He shook his head.

(No! This can't go on...! What should I do?)

"Ax, calm down. It's okay. We'll figure something out," I told him.

His eyes were meaningful, then slowly calm. (Thank you, Cassie.)

An hour later, the others came sprinting as fast as they could. That was awfully quick. They looked like they had panicked when they first heard the news from Tobias.

"Is it true he's sick again!?" Jake yelled.

"He'd better not because baby aspirin are the one thing I don't want to come haunting me anytime soon!" Marco shouted.

"It was a false alarm. He's not sick," I told them, still smiling.

"Then what?" said Rachel. "Come on! Be serious! I do _**not**_ want to starve to death for a whole week!"

"Ax has a crush on a girl."

A lot of eyes went wide with extreme shock.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled. Ax nearly jumped.

"No way!" Marco shouted. "Excuse me but Ax-man _**likes**_ a human being? A normal person that's way prettier than Xena here? A normal average looking individual that's WAY more-"

A stomp on his foot silenced him quickly.

(Ax, is that true?) Tobias asked, perched on a bale of hay.

Ax looked a little embarrassed. He immediately nodded his head.

"Unbelievable! I thought you said humans weren't attractive," Jake nearly shouted with a laugh.

"So who's this lucky girl you've fallen in love with?" Rachel asked, grinning widely.

(...She calls herself Kimberly,) Ax replied, still humiliated.

"Kimberly!? The Kimberly? **THE **Oddball Kim!?" Marco shouted.

"You know her?" said Rachel, lifting an eyebrow.

"Of course I know her! She's in Science with me! Ax, don't go near her! She's devious! What's worse, she could be a Controller!"

"Marco, are you still angry at her?" Jake asked, furrowing an eyebrow.

"Angry? Exactly what did she do to you?" said Rachel.

"Don't you remember? Three weeks ago," said Jake.

"Oooh," Rachel sang wickedly. "She was the one who turned you down, wasn't she? You weren't even her type after all."

"She did not do that because of me! I never even got a chance to show my charming side!" Marco snapped.

"So what did happen?" I asked.

"Can we not have a flashback? I'm still recovering from that."

Rachel was the first to start. "Marco wanted to ask her out for the dance before we all got sick. When he finally got the guts to ask, guess what her answer was? She said no and left. The idiot just stood there frozen with his mouth gapping wide open."

"My mouth wasn't open!"

(So how did you two meet, Ax?) Tobias asked.

(We didn't exactly meet at first. She came unexpectedly and I did not morph into human then,) Ax replied.

"Ax! What were you thinking? She could have seen you!" Jake shouted.

(No, no! She did not see me. I hid and she seemed more engrossed with her surroundings. She was a strange human. She deliberately fell back on the ground but did not seem to mind the pain. That was when I noticed some triangular-shaped provisions from her carrier and-)

"Wait, there was food involved?" Rachel asked.

(Yes. Very delicious food. Why?)

Rachel nearly burst out with laughter. Jake slapped his face. I softly laughed too. What was to be expected? Ax would do anything to get a taste of something edible. He even tried to eat popcorn off the floor last time. Now it was a little obvious how Ax met Kimberly.

"Nothing. Go on," Jake said.

(I morphed in my human form and sneaked around without her seeing me. When I took what was hers, her pet found me and...I got scared. I jumped. She also jumped-)

"Wait. You stole her snack?" I cried out.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Ax-man," said Marco, snickering.

(I only took one. I did not mean to do it but the smell was appealing. Besides, she was not angry at me for taking one. Rather, she laughed hysterically,) Ax said embarrassingly. (But her laugh was a nice one. I have never met anyone like her...)

"What happened next?" Rachel asked impatiently.

(We...just talked. After that, I left.)

"That's it? No fireworks?"

(No. There were no fireworks in the sky. It was not night yet.)

"She means did anything _special_ happen?" said Marco.

(No. But it was special talking to her.)

Rachel looked a little disappointed. I guess she thought there would be more to that. I think she wanted to hear kissing or something.

"Oh, sure! The oddball goes friendly for the alien but not me! What am I, chopped liver?" Marco yelled and crossed his arms.

(I am sure you are not chopped liver,) said Ax.

"Geez, thanks. That makes me feel _**so**_ much better."

(By the way, what is an oddball?) he then asked.

"It means someone with an odd personality," Jake replied.

(Ah, that suits her. She is a very odd human. She kept being contented for a very long time.)

"She was happy?"

(Yes and for what reason, I do not know.)

"Huh. Guess she's not sad anymore."

"Why do you say that?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I had noticed she's been looking depressed lately at school," said Jake.

"Come to think of it, she was down in the dumps when I asked her to the dance," Marco pointed out.

"You sure it wasn't you?" Rachel intoned.

They were right. I, too, noticed a slight difference in Kimberly.

I don't know her that well. Just that she's in the same English class as I am. I had always seen her talking wildly with a friend or two about any subject that came to mind. She'd always smile so happily as if there had never been anything bad happen to her.

It was only three weeks ago I noticed her expression had changed. I could still remember. She came in the classroom very gloomy and sat down without saying a word. Her friends approached her and asked what was wrong. Kimberly didn't reply.

She looked almost like a lifeless doll. I thought she was going to drop dead anytime soon.

I wondered what happened before she suddenly became glum. She didn't even come to school for two days.

Tobias's head perked up suddenly, turning to the barn doors. He took off fast and before we knew it, I heard the sound of an engine coming near.

(A car's heading this way!) he shouted.

I looked at Jake. He nodded and I hurried to the barn doors. Quickly, I walked out and closed the doors behind me. The car just pulled over just outside on the stretch of road. Eventually, the window at the driver seat rolled down.

"Excuse me," a woman in the driver seat called, waving her arm violently. I went close to her window.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yes. Do you know Kimberly? We're her parents," a man, sitting in the passenger seat asked with a light but troubled smile.

"Uh, sort of."

"Have you seen Kimberly at school? Please tell me you have," Kimberly's mother asked worriedly, her hands in a begging prayer on the wheel.

"No, I haven't," I told them.

Kimberly's mother was let down and heaved a heavy sigh. Her father took her hand and comforted her.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure she's alright."

"How can I **NOT** worry?! My little Kimmy hasn't come home since yesterday!"

"Did something happen to Kimberly?" I casually asked, acting as normal as I could.

"We're not very sure," her father said.

"Oh no! Don't tell me it was something we did to upset her!? OH GOD! I MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING THAT MADE HER RUN AWAY!" Kimberly's mom yelled.

She looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown any minute. It scared me out of my wits! Her loudness could have brought my parents out quickly! Luckily, the animals' noises drowned her shout.

"Honey, dear, calm down. You didn't do anything," said Kimberly's dad, then looked at me. "I'm sorry, she overreacts a little."

A little? I thought to myself.

"Did anything bad happen to her at school lately?" he asked.

"Not that I can think of. No," I replied.

"Oh...okay. I guess we should keep looking."

Kimberly's mom began to whimper. Her lips were trembling. "My little Kimmy..."

Kimberly's dad sighed deeply. He was greatly worried about Kimberly too.

"If you see her, could you call us?" her dad asked, passing a small note to me. Their number was on it.

"Sure. I'll see what I can do," I said.

"Thank you. It really means so much to us," he said. With that, Kimberly's mom started the car and they went off. Their car disappeared down the road. It was kind of sad to see her parents really concerned, desperate to search for their daughter. I could imagine how my parents would feel if I went missing.

I went back to the barn. The others inside had overheard our conversation.

"So she's been missing since yesterday," said Jake

"No wonder I haven't seen her for two days," I said. "But why would she run off like that?"

"Maybe she found out her parents are Controllers and she's now on the run," said Marco. "Her pops was looking very suspicious."

"I don't think they are even Controllers. If I remember correctly, Kimberly's dad is on a wheelchair. And her mom is somewhat...a little crazy," Jake pointed out.

"Jake, how could you say that about Kimberly's mom? She's very worried about where her daughter is," I scolded lightly.

"But that's what some people say about her," Jake admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "What I mean is if she was a Controller, the Yeerk wouldn't take the time to act exactly how she would, right?"

"Yeah. I agree with you there. Yesterday, she literally went through all the garbage cans screaming "Kimmy, are you there?"," Rachel said. "I know. I saw her taking the lid off of mine."

"Did she find a dead body in yours?" Marco intoned. Rachel threw an elbow at him.

(She did not run away because of her parents. She had another reason,) Ax explained.

"Ax, do you know where Kimberly is?" I asked.

Ax nodded. (She is in the woods. That was where I met her today. She seems to be staying there for the night.)

"And what reason would she have for running away and camping in the middle of the outdoors?" Marco coughed.

(She said it was her dreams.)

"Dreams?" Jake uttered.

"What's to be afraid of? Dreams are a natural thing. We all dream," Rachel said.

"Like you who dreams to be a gorgeous model," Marco droned, twitching his eyebrows up and down.

(But she told me they were frightening her. She said her kind of dreams is much different than other dreams.)

(How different?) Tobias asked.

(She said people can get hurt from them.)

"Hurt? How can you get hurt from something that's in your head?" said Rachel.

"Okay, it's officially. She's crazy like her mom. Ax, I suggest you stay away from those woods. We'll scare her away in wolf morphs and we can go back to having a normal life," Marco said.

(Since when were our lives ever normal?) Tobias muttered.

(She is not crazy,) said Ax, sounding defensive. (She may be a strange human but I could tell she was afraid.)

"Sounds boogers to me," Rachel mumbled.

"Still, we'd better keep watch over her. Who knows what she'll do. If she sees Ax, that's it," Jake explained.

"We'll be having another member in this group," Marco intoned. Rachel punched him.

"Let's not think about that," Jake groaned. "For now, we'll watch her. Tobias, you keep an eye on her tonight."

(Sure thing,) Tobias said.

"Ax, from now on, stay away from Kimberly. Don't go near her camp until we know more."

(But-) Ax started but Jake cut him short.

"I mean it, Ax. That girl could mean trouble."

(...I understand, Prince Jake,) Ax said.

After that, everyone left for the night and I went back to take care of the squirrel. As I was about to close the barn doors, I swear I thought I saw a person wearing black. The person looked like a motorcycle rider. Or I think it was a rider.

That person wasn't on a motorbike. The person was standing in a tree far away, looking straight at me.

I flung the door open and looked about. But there was no person outside. Just the tree and its leaves shaking.

I really hoped it was my imagination.

* * *

_Two days later, Lauren's mom called me. I was making popcorn that day. It was movie night for me and Bax while our parents went out for a nice dinner together. Bax always rented one for every Friday night since it was weekends after that. It's what you call a sibling tradition._

_I never expected anything bad from that call. It began good at first. Her mom asked how I was fine and all. Gradually, she started to sob in between her sentences._

_But she soon went to the point._

_Lauren died from a tumor the night before._

_It came unexpected...like a train just hit me. But it felt much worse. All my life, I thought nothing bad could come and hurt me. I was wrong. I was in my own world until reality struck. It was too late to realize that._

_I just lost a friend._

_I dropped the phone and fell down on my knees. I cried uncontrollably. Then the following week, I attended to my best friend's funeral._

_It was a very gloomy and rainy day. Looking down at my best friend in a coffin didn't make things better._

_I wanted the nightmare to end._

_That is why I am scared. Even if these dreams were true, I have no idea who would believe me. I could warn someone if they were in my dreams but they would think I was saying nonsense. I could ignore the dreams but something bad could happen to somebody._

_Either way, I knew my dreams were going to hurt someone._

_

* * *

_

Author's Notes: Woo-hoo! I got chapter two down! Oh yeah! Oh Yeah!

Marco: What's to celebrate about? You've only written 8 pages! AND HOW THE HELL DID I GET A NO FOR AN ANSWER?! I'm supposed to be the loveable one!

Vickie: ...I can hurt you just as much as I can hurt my book character, Ivan (Not in any fanfic).

Ivan: She's right, man! Run for your life! -Screams as he's being chased by a fictional vampire, following a disgusting big blob made entirely of bugs-

Vickie: -Grins as evil as the devil-

Marco: ... -Backs away very slowly-

Vickie: Yes, people, I do have a crazy side when it comes to tormenting my original characters.

Kimberly: j^j –trembles in fear-

Vickie: Mind you guys, this story probably takes place after book 30 - 35. Somewhere round there. Kimberly's foster family is also an odd family and not Controllers. Mostly her foster mother is the odd one while her brother thinks he's totally normal (he hates it when his mother overreacts. Embarrassing for him). Her foster father is disabled from an accident in college so unlikely he's a Controller but he's a kind guy. And yes, you're seeing bits of the black suited stranger and more bits until the stranger come into combat with someone very familiar in ch. 7 but I'm not gonna tell ya more of the stranger...yet. But hear, hear! The stranger is gonna be an interesting character with an unexpected twist of his/her identity!

Black-suited stranger: Why am I here in the first place is what I want to ask but your insanity is already the answer...

Vickie: My insanity will answer you alright once I make sure you have to go through excruciating pain (eg. Having the neck broken and three vertebrates smash into many little pieces!).

Black-suited stranger: ...Have you not torture enough people?

Vickie: No. As a matter of fact, I still got some more to afflict terror in.

Vickie's book characters: AHHHHHH!!!


	4. Sleepless Night

**Chapter Three: Sleepless Night**

_**Kimberly**_

_There were times I hated my dreams and there were times I wondered what they mean. I had them every night. I don't know why. They came and they haunted me. Because of that, I never got a good night's sleep._

_When I was eight, my foster parents saw signs of insomnia. They became worried and asked what was wrong. I told them it was nothing. However, like any parent working up their worry, they ignored me and took me to a therapist._

_When we reached there, I was terrified to go in the room alone with a stranger. I threw a tantrum. The therapist suddenly became impatient and shouted at me to be quiet, grabbing my arm. My mom was outraged and we quickly left. I still remember she wanted to sue him for his behavior at me._

_I didn't care. I was just greatly relieved._

_Because the night before, I saw in a dream the therapist's head plunged near a pool and very slowly, his grin stretched wickedly._

_I knew this wasn't normal. I knew there was no kid out there who had dreams like this. It felt like I was alone with this special power. And I didn't want to call it special. The dreams were all too scary to be special._

_I never told anyone. Not my foster parents. Not even my brother. I had this fear that no one will understand me, no matter how close they are._ _I could never scream out the pain I had to endure through the sleepless nights. I had to cry a little to keep them in._

_But to tell Phillip about it, to tell someone for the very first time, it was comforting. To let someone hear me out after a long time of closure made me a little happy. _

_But deep down, I knew that happiness wasn't going to last._

_

* * *

_

**Tobias**

It was pretty late that night. The crickets were out. So were the nice juicy mice. By now, the others were sitting back, having a nice family dinner in the comfort of their homes.

Me? I had just eaten and was now spying on the girl Ax got a crush on. I perched up a tree near her place and let my hawk eyes do all the seeing.

So far, I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary or anything that could intimidate us.

The only thing I was surprised was that Kimberly seemed to know a great deal about camping out here alone. I didn't think she was the type who liked the outback. She looked more the kind who knew nothing outside her own world.

For the whole time, I watched her gather wood, make a fire using some matches and then toast her sandwich with a stick.

But she was a little clumsy.

"Yeow! Ouch! Ouch! Hot! Hot! Hot!" she screamed as she tossed the toasted sandwich about in her hands.

I have no idea what Ax sees in her. I was happy that Ax got someone to like, being stranded on Earth faraway from his people. But it was a little weird to have a crush on this girl.

I've seen her once on the first day of school. But it wasn't much seeing because not only was my head in a toilet bowl at the time (bully thing), she fell down a flight of stairs and had to be taken to the hospital with a broken arm for weeks. After that, I heard rumors that her mom valiantly 'scolded' Mr. Chapman for not putting any safety measure in the school.

Only today I found out about her name.

I watched Kimberly blow cold air on her hands before she tore off a piece and gave it to her dog, Malcolm, who was tied up to a root in double knots. She then quietly ate what was left for dinner.

I stayed where I was. I didn't move a muscle. I kept my eyes on her even when she went to her sleeping bag, snuggled by the fire. Malcolm crept up besides her back and rested his head on her legs.

For the whole night, I kept watch till the campfire died out, listening to the crickets and an owl close by making hooting sounds.

A cramp was killing me in the neck. Standing watch on the same branch all night wasn't good for a hawk. My wings were about to sleep.

I heard whimpers and looked down.

Kimberly was tossing and turning in her sleeping bag. I wasn't the only one who noticed this. Malcolm got up worriedly and tried to coax her up with his nose. It didn't wake her up. She kept on turning in her sleep. Her hands gripped her head tightly.

She looked like she was having a really bad nightmare. A really BAD one. It was lasting more than thirty minutes or so. Nightmares are supposed to be short but frightening. The moment you'd see a horrible monster about to chow down on you, you'd instantly wake up. This girl's dreams however took it to a whole different level.

Suddenly, she bolted up. "NO!"

She gasped in the night's air heavily. She was dripping in sweat. Her eyes were wide, filled with terror.

"No...no..." she said worriedly. Tears were beginning to swell. She whispered something I couldn't hear it but it sounded with a 'P' or 'F' at the beginning.

Slowly but surely, Kimberly wrapped her arms around her legs and sobbed, her face in her knees. Malcolm nudged his head at her, trying to calm her.

Ax did say she ran away because of her dreams. I never imagined they would be terrifying ones.

Dreams... It's kind of funny, thinking about dreams. I remembered the last time Cassie and I dreamt, it led to finding Ax.

I began to wonder about Kimberly's dreams.

A movement in the trees. Someone or something was there!

My nerves relaxed a bit when I spotted feathers in the far distance and golden eyes looking at me.

Great, there had to be a predator nearby. I hate golden eagles. They always come and rack talons at me. Why couldn't they be in another part of the continent?

Then I noticed something weird. This was a different golden eagle, perched on a branch. A new one in this area, I assumed. I could tell before it was covered in ruffled feathers, like it had been in a recent fight. It wasn't targeting me. It was staring at Kimberly.

It never took its glare from her. I felt uneasy about that.

The golden eagle then soared off its branch. I took my eyes off it for a second and before I knew it, the eagle was gone.

I turned my attention back to Kimberly. She cried for an hour but she didn't go to sleep. Kimberly just clenched her knees tightly and stared at the dirt. She rocked back and forth a bit.

I tried to watch her but my eyelids felt heavy.

Then, slowly, darkness...

(HEY, TOBIAS! WAKE UP!)

(Huhwhatwhowhere?) I nearly jumped out of my feathers.

Strong light. It hurt my eyes for a while. Was it morning already?

I looked about only to see an Osprey next door to me. It waved a wing.

(Oh... Hey, Marco...)

(Top o' the morning to you,) he said in a fake Irish accent. (Sleeping on the job, are we? What happens if Oddball Kim goes off somewhere and stumbles right in front of Ax-man? She might just disappear right under your nose. Like right now.)

(What!?) I shouted.

I quickly turned back to the campsite. Kimberly was gone. But her things were still there. So was her dog, still tied up to the tree. He let out a yawn and then scratched his ear.

(Don't worry. She just went to the river to wash up. See? Here she comes now.)

He was right. She came out from some bushes, pushing away the branches.

(Relax, Tobias. This girl isn't going to sprout wings and fly away,) Marco intoned. (So anything odd she did last night? Knowing her, anything she does _**is**_ odd.)

(Do you always assume everything she does is strange?) I inquired. (Nothing much happened last night. She ate dinner and went to sleep until she got a nightmare.)

(Uh-huh,) he said as he began cleaning his feathers.

(I think Ax was right about her dreams. She didn't sleep the whole night.)

(Sure, sure.)

(...You're still mad at Kimberly, aren't you?)

He stopped cleaning. (Who's Kimberly?)

(It was a dance. Drop it already.)

(Ah, it was just a dance before we all got sick.)

I turned back, knowing this wasn't going anywhere. Kimberly had sat down on the log and took hold of her bag. She had taken out a pen and a small book and began writing.

(She's writing something,) I said.

(Probably writing an odd story about little ponies frolicking in pink meadows and talking about how cute their big red bows are.)

(Could you be a bit serious now and then?)

(Fine, fine. If you want me to be serious, then so be it.)

(Oh, really? How?) If I was human, I would be cocking up an eyebrow by now.

(You'll see.)

Half an hour later, Kimberly finished writing in her book. She put it back into her backpack and gave a tiring sigh. Malcolm let out a bark, catching her attention.

"Nature calls, huh?" she said and got two more barks as her reply. "Okay, okay. Let's go for a walk."

Kimberly untied the leash off the root and held it tight. The dog led the way and they disappeared through the trees.

(Alright. Time to be serious,) said Marco and dove behind some thick bushes. He demorphed.

(What are you doing? Do you want to be seen by her?)

"Relax. I borrowed this morph from one of Cassie's animal friends," he said and began to morph. "Besides, she's gone."

He shrunk down slowly to a medium size. Grey, white and black hair sprouted from his skin but certain colors in certain places like grey all over the body and black on all limbs. A ringed tail came out from his spine, followed by thick fur covered in black bands. His nose stretched and his ears pointed upwards.

He was morphing into a raccoon.

(What'd you think? Catchy?)

(What are you planning to do? Mess up her camp?)

(No, birdbrain. Since you're so interested in what she wrote, I'm going to get it for you.)

(That means stealing her book.)

(Of course not. We're just borrowing it.)

(Thief,) I called him.

(That's actually what this animal is called. Now shut up and look out for the oddball.)

He scampered into the campsite on four paws. Nearing the backpack, he fiddled with the buckle until it came off. With his teeth, he tugged open the zipper and began digging in.

(Yum! Gummi bears!)

(Marco!)

(Alright, alright! Hold your horses... Here it is.)

Marco pulled out the book with his teeth. He threw it onto the ground and pried it open.

With my hawk eyes, I looked at the contents as Marco turned the pages. There was a lot of writing. There was also a lot of drawing in it. Doodles, actually.

(Didn't know she had an odd imagination too,) said Marco. (Creative, but downright odd.)

I had to agree with him there. A few doodles I could make out were animals: wolf, bird, tiger but there were others that looked like experimental animals gone wrong. And it looked like Kimberly kept drawing the same freaky-looking animals again and again.

These were the most common ones: one was a whale, drawn with an armored back and had extremely long wing-shaped fins. Six legs were scribbled underneath the whale. Another was a large big cat, huge paws, no nose, very sharp long ears, two tails and big teeth. Third one was bird like, but drawn with long scythes forming from its wings. The next one was an eight-legged lizard with four eyes - two small ones were drawn behind its other two big eyes – and large blades along its back. And much more crazy-looking creatures were on the pages.

Kimberly had some imagination, alright.

Then, one doodle caught my eye in the next page.

(Does that...look like a Hork-Bajir to you?) I said.

(What?) Marco took a closer look. (I don't think so.)

(Yeah, it does. Look at the spikes.)

(It's just a scribble. Besides, she's an odd person so she's bound to draw oddly anything.)

RUSTLE!

The bushes shook. Marco froze. Kimberly had returned to her camp. She brushed off the leaves caught in her hair, then tied Malcolm's leash to the root. Malcolm quickly let out a growl, which made her look over her shoulder.

She spotted Marco. She blinked twice. I guess to her, it was a raccoon wandering into her camp.

Then she spotted the book in his claws.

"My dream journal!" she shouted.

(Marco! Run!)

He took off, the book spine in his mouth and Kimberly chased after him. I flapped my wings and soared after them.

(Couldn't you have left the book behind?)

(Well, forgive my instinct for biting into anything that might be food!)

"Give me back my book!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

(Go through the shrubs! It'll slow her down!)

Marco leaped beneath the low-lying branches of the thick shrubs. But that didn't stop Kimberly. She struggled through them. Her hair got tangled but she heaved her head forward, breaking the twigs.

The shrubs didn't last long. They quickly came into an opening in the woods. With all her effort, she dove with open arms. Marco had only seconds to look back and she grabbed him in an instance.

"GOT YOU!" Kimberly shouted and suddenly realized she didn't feel the ground.

For a split second, they looked down. Because they were about to fall down a very steep but short slope, lined with sharp rocks.

"AHHHH!" she screamed as she tumbled down the slope.

From above, I watched the dust cloud lift and fall. Then the grey animal darted out, still holding the book.

Kimberly didn't give up so easy. She scrambled up on her feet and quickly grabbed Marco's tail. I heard him shriek in thought-speech. She yanked the book right out of his mouth.

(Argh! My jaw! MY BROKEN JAW!)

Kimberly took a couple of breaths before she let off of his tail. Marco scampered away and climbed up a tree.

"Thank God, thank God...!" she said and fell back, hugging the book tightly. "Ouch..."

I spotted something red staining the legging of her pants. She felt its wetness, got up and examined the big scrape on her leg.

Kimberly went on her way to her camp, limping a little. I flew down to the tree where Marco was tending care to his tail.

(Some plan,) I said.

(Well, it would have gone great if you kept watch!)

(It wasn't a good one to begin with. You made her have a gash.)

(Oh, so a broken jaw and snapped tail don't count?) he hissed.

(If Rachel was here, she'd call you a baby.)

(Sure, take her side! While I'm here hoping I don't need crude examination from Cassie's dad!)

(Oh, stop whining. I dealt with it before,) I groaned with a glare. Believe me, I have. (Come on. We'd better check on her.)

Along the way, Marco grumbled words softly. For goodness sake, could he stop being mad at her?

Marco stayed as a raccoon since there was lots of time. I flew up to my branch and Marco stood low near the roots. We stayed where we were because we were kind of thinking Malcolm might be able to smell us and give chase. But we were close enough to her campsite to see what was going on.

Kimberly sat down on the log and rolled up the torn legging of her pants. She put away her book deep in the bag, then took out some clean white bandages, a towel and a bottle.

She was real prepared for the outback.

She poured a little solution on the towel before putting side the bottle. Biting on the bandages between her teeth, she placed the wet towel on the wound. Her eyes squinted together. After she cleaned the wound, she wrapped up her leg with the bandage.

(Wow, didn't think she was bleeding a lot,)

(You're feeling sorry for her?) I asked as Kimberly got up and began building another fireplace with more wood.

(Like heck I would. That much blood's going to attract wolves.)

I knew he was avoiding the question.

I suddenly spotted some movement coming towards Kimberly's camp. It was far-off, coming in a slow place. I saw blue fur behind leaves.

My eyes would go wide if I was a kid again.

Ax was heading towards the campsite.

* * *

_I kept these dreams in for a long time. They have worn me down but I always hid it with a smile and no one would ask what was wrong with me. It was my talent, hiding my pain behind a smile._

_I have always looked for positive things. I never think negatively. I tried my best to look on the bright side of my dreams._

_There was never a bright side. And sometimes I was getting tired of that._

_Then one day, while buying a present for my dad in a bookshop, I saw a type of book called a "Dream Journal". You were supposed to write down the dreams you have and then find their meanings later._

_I bought my first one two years ago. By now, I was on my fourth one. The others, I hid them under a floorboard in my bedroom. Though, some of the pages in the first book got accidentally burnt._

_I wrote them down. I wrote every single detail down. Every time I had a dream, the next morning I would write it down and hide it back under the floor. I sometimes doodle, drawing down what I've seen in my dreams. I also drew other things, sometimes unrelated to my dreams._

_But I could never find their meanings. I looked up in books about dreams I borrowed from the library and I checked in the Internet. I got nothing._

_I wonder if someone found one of these books, would they start reading them. Would they find out the meaning of my dreams?_

_If people were to find out, would they say I am special?_

_If so, then why do I feel empty inside?_

_Why do I feel so lost...?_

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Fin! Third chapter is up! Hope you'll all like it. Hmm, guessing that I might be able to update one chapter every week (if school doesn't take me down) so look out for the next chapter! It's gonna be one with a lot of humor in it! Oh and those weird-looking animals mentioned here are not from her dreams. They are from her imagination. And they will serve an interesting turn in this fanfic. And no, please don't compare them to Pokemon. These creatures I cook up are much worse and deadlier than those...things...

Whale: -opens mouth and flashes out razor sharp teeth- -bites onto Vickie's arm-

-endless scream can be heard throughout the world-

Marco: Give an audience to the Whale! –cheers- -stops- Huh? Ah-AHHHHH!!! –gets chased by fictional blob made of insect from ch. 2-

Vickie: -gets the last laugh but faints from loss of blood-


	5. Raccoon Invasion

**Chapter Four: Raccoon Invasion**

_**Kimberly**_

_Antinanco once told me, "The eagle soars to touch the clouds. Man follows but falls and breaks his bones. He follows again but falls again. If he wants to fly, he has to change his path."_

_I never understood what that meant. I was only a child then. But as I grew older, I figured out its meaning. _

_Man follows but falls and breaks his bones. He follows again but falls again. It means he doesn't give up, even though he hasn't succeeded. If he wants to fly, he has to change his path. It means there is another option to reach his goal. He just needs to find it to do so._

_Sounds weird, I know. But it made sense to me. And it has saved my life many times._

_There were times I wanted to give up. The dreams were wearing me down and...I kept quiet about them, not telling a single soul about these dreams. Even though, deep in my heart, I pleaded for someone to help me._

_A week ago, I have had enough. I wanted my dreams to stop. So I went to the rooftop of the mall. No one knew I was there. No one expected what I was going to do._

_Or what I was thinking of doing._

_Yeah, I wasn't thinking straight then. I guess you could call me pathetic. Trying to end my life in a quick and simple fashion._

_But back then, something held me back from doing it. It wasn't fear. Antinanco's words kept repeating in my head. They have always repeated in my mind whenever I wanted to give up._

_That was when I thought that if I did suicide, Antinanco would look down at me. He would be unhappy with me. So would Lauren._

_I didn't want that. So I didn't do it. I went home and never told anyone about this._

_

* * *

_

**Marco**

Oh man! I couldn't believe this! How could Ax do this?! Jake specifically told him not to go near Oddball Kim's camp! He was disobeying an order from his Prince!

Okay, it's official. That girl cast some evil spell on him. I knew we should have gone for the wolf-scare-girl plan! Why didn't anyone listen to me?

(Ax! What are you doing?) Tobias shouted, soaring above him. Ax heard him and looked up. (You shouldn't be here!)

(Tobias, I can explain,) he said. His tail tried to hide away the clothes he'd often wore when human.

(Yes, you can explain while we make sure you are as far from here as possible!) I snapped.

Ax noticed me, the raccoon. (Marco, is that you?)

(Yes, Ax-Man. In the fur. Now move it!)

(What is that morph you are in?)

(It's called a raccoon and–DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!)

(Ax, you've got to go. If Kimberly sees you, she's going to tell the public about you,) said Tobias.

(Worse still, she could be a Controller,) I said, even if the fact she was just too odd to be one still burrowed deep in my head. But you've got to keep an open mind.

Ax's eyes stared down. There was a hint of ache in them.

(But...she said I could see her again.)

Okay, he failed to tell us that information before. Seriously, what did he see in the oddball?

By now, Kimberly had already gotten the fire going. I could tell by the smoke lifting behind the trees and saw red hot flames through the bushes.

(Ax, you've got to stop seeing Oddball Kim. She's not even your type!) I said. (In a whole lot of ways!)

(But...I cannot disappoint her. She was looking forward to seeing me,) said Ax.

(Listen to yourself, Ax! You're not thinking straight,) I said, tapping my head. (You're delirious. Now let's get you back to Cassie's place. I'm sure she's got something to clear your head.)

(I am not sick, Marco.)

(How would you know? You'd probably have Yamphut again.)

(I assure you I'm not sick.)

(If you're not sick, then you should know how dangerous this is, Ax. This is for your own good,) Tobias pointed out.

Ax's eyes slowly filled up with more pain. (But...)

(No buts! Just do us a favor and get away from Oddball Kim before she sucks the blood out of you,) I snapped. Maybe that last part might scare him off.

Ax suddenly tilled up his head. I soon realized why. There was a strong scent in the air. The raccoon mind instantly recognized it. Raw.

I looked back and sure enough, Kimberly had taken out a bottle of yellow liquid and poured a portion of it into the small mash tin. She stirred it with a fork.

She was cooking eggs for breakfast.

(Oooh no! Don't even think about it! Sit! Stay!) I shouted. (Heel boy!)

(I am sorry but I must,) Ax said. (I want to meet Kimberly again.)

(Nooo, you just want to taste that and tell her how great it is. Now heel!)

But it was too late. He was beginning to morph to human. Why are Andalites so stubborn?

After morphing to human and changing into his clothes, he rushed over to the campsite. I quickly grabbed his leg, trying my best to stop him.

(Ax! Don't go to the dark side!) I shouted.

He walked on and I tumbled down just as his leg went up, nearly throwing me off. We watched him push aside the leaves and into the opening.

(Ax, come back here!) I again yelled but he ignored me again.

The dog lifted its head up at the moment Ax entered the campsite. But it didn't growl furiously or wag a tail. It just locked its eyes at him walking towards Kimberly. Kimberly didn't hear him coming. Guess she was distracted with the eggs.

Ax crouched down beside her, staring at the yellow fluffy tasty-Arghh! Raccoon mind taking over!

He just looked at it, okay!?

"What are you making?" Ax plainly asked just as she turned away from the fire. Her eyes shot big.

"GAAAAH!!!" she screamed, falling off the log. She nearly dropped the scrambled eggs off the mash tin. A couple of quick breaths she took. Then she spoke. "Okay, you really need to stop scaring me!"

"I am sorry, Kimberly," Ax apologized. "Kim-ber-lee."

"It's alright," she said, getting back onto the log. "Like I said before, it was a good scare. This time, it was really good."

"What are you making? Ma-king."

"Huh? It's eggs."

"Eggs. E-ggah. Nice word. Does it taste good? Go-od."

"Didn't you have breakfast?" she asked.

"No," said Ax, shaking his head.

(Liar!) I shouted.

He ate three bowls of Quaker Oats and Honeycombs at my place this morning! Jake and I thought it would help him keep his mind off the oddball. Food seemed like the best answer to his problem. Obviously not!

Kimberly stared at him with a shocked look and raised an eyebrow. Then she laughed.

"Did I do something humorous again?"

"No, no. I'm sorry," Kimberly answered. "You're a funny guy. Strange, but funny."

(Look who's talking,) I mumbled.

SLAP!

(Ouch! What was that for?!)

(You needed it,) Tobias snapped. What was his problem?

"I guess you've never tried scrambled eggs before, huh?" said Kimberly.

"Are eggs supposed to be scrambled? Scram-bell," Ax asked, playing with his words again.

"No, they come in different kinds."

"Why must eggs be scrambled if there are different kinds? Ki-nd. Dif-fur-et" he asked. Oh boy, she's going to think he's crazy.

"Uh... Hm, never really thought about that. Guess people just like them scrambled," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

This was shocking. She was like she was already a pal to him. Normally, people who met Ax would have backed away but she doesn't seem to mind his weird human ways. Not one bit! This was the first time someone other than us, the Animorphs, is a friend to Ax.

No, no! She's evil! Evil! Got to save Ax from Evil Oddball Kim! Or E.O.K for short! She's going to break his heart sooner or later. And comforting a heartbroken alien was not what I wanted to do on my list of chores this week!

(Ax! Get out of there this instance!) I hissed at him.

He didn't budge. Instead, his eyes moved to our direction while Kimberly placed the pan beside a disposable plate. She went through her bag to get another one.

(No. Please, let me stay here for now,) he said via thought-speak. (She trusts me. So perhaps I can get more information about her dreams. It seems to be the cause of her running away.)

(And what good will that do for us?)

(Hold on. I think he's getting somewhere with this,) said Tobias.

(What!? Have you lost your mind!?) I shouted.

(Not so loud! She's going to hear you!)

(I don't care! Give me one good reason why we should go on with this!)

(Her dreams. They could mean something.)

(There you go again! Her dreams are just _**dreams**_!)

(Maybe but are they normal? Ax, just be sure not to stay too long. We don't want you to become a human _nothlit_.)

(Don't worry. That will not happen,) said Ax.

(You two are insane!) I yelled.

(Hey, what do you expect? We're related,) said Tobias.

(Alright, fine! But Ax, whatever you do, don't eat anything here! It could be poison!) I shouted.

(For goodness sake, she's not a witch,) said Tobias.

(What is a witch, Tobias?) Ax asked.

(Um...I'll tell you later.)

Ax turned away, only to come face to face with a plate of steaming scrambled eggs, a close inch from his nose. Kimberly smiled at him.

"Here," she said as she passed the plate to Ax. "I hope it's not too salty."

As soon as she sat down, Ax wolfed down those eggs as quick as lightening. Not even using the plastic fork she gave him. Isn't that obvious?

"You really didn't eat breakfast at all, did you?" she said, looking shocked.

He quickly finished when she was only halfway through her meal. She was too busy staring at how fast he gobbled up the food. Ax began licking his mouth and fingers.

"You need to learn some table manners, you know." Kimberly laughed lightly and took her sleeve up. She wiped off the small squishy bits of leftover egg from his cheek.

(I've been meaning to ask. What is this ritual she's doing?) Ax asked us in thought-speech.

(Ax, it's not a ritual. She's just cleaning your mouth because it's, um, rude to leave your mouth covered with food,) Tobias explained.

(Oh. But she does not have to do this.)

(Have you seen yourself after you eat? You practically don't know what a napkin is for,) I droned.

Ax glared at me.

(Hey, it's a fact. You can't clean up after yourself.)

"So did you like them?" Kimberly asked which quickly caught Ax's attention.

"Yes, it was delicious. De-lee-ius. It was an unusual texture. It melts in my mouth, yet it's not like chocolate. Cho. Coke. Lat."

"Do you always stutter?"

"Yes," he said, without even knowing what that meant! (What is stutter?)

(Uhhh..) Tobias and I uttered together. Now how do you tell an alien what stutter is when he's doing it himself because the human tongue is a toy to him?

"Hee-hee," Kimberly giggled and went ahead to kill the fire. "I'm glad you like the eggs. I'm trying my best to create the greatest dishes anyone has ever tasted."

"Why?" Ax asked.

"Well...I want to become a chef when I grow up. I wanna become famous in culinary. Owe my own restaurant at age 21 before I find the right guy and get married." There was a pause. "Sounds silly, no?"

"No. It does not." (What is a chef? And what is a restaurant?)

(Stop asking questions and focus!) I snapped. Great, he had to fall in love with someone who likes to cook. Perfect.

(But start up a conversation. She'll get suspicious if you ask her the dreams too quickly,) Tobias explained.

(Alright,) said Ax and thus began a long ten-minute talk.

Boring...! This was boring! All they talked about families and what they like or dislike and stuff. Tobias had to help him along the way, making up stories that he was from Canada, transferred here. Then strangely, they ended with jokes, even though Ax's _**jokes**_ weren't that funny and didn't make sense. Still, she laughed with joy.

Can't believe she was so friendly to him. What is it I don't have that Ax has? I got the good-looking face, I don't have a speech problem every time I say a new word AND I certainly didn't gobble cigarette butts!

Seriously, this girl was odd. I don't even know why I wanted to ask her out.

...Oh, yeah. That's right. I thought she was cute before I even knew her true nature.

Shoot me.

"Kimberly, could you tell me more about your dreams?" Ax at last asked.

She looked at him, a little worried but mostly puzzled. "Why do you want to know them? They're just dreams."

(See! Even E.O.K agrees with me!) I said.

(E.O.K?) Tobias uttered.

(Don't ask.)

"I think they could mean something, Kimberly. Som-thing. I know that dreams can help us in many different ways by what they mean. Mi-an-nn," Ax explained.

Kimberly looked uncertain, then stared at the black smoking fireplace, frowning. She poked the soot with a stick she found near the log. "I don't know if you can find their meanings. I mean, I've been looking for that for a very long time. So far, I still don't know. What difference would it make now?"

Their eyes met for such a long time. Finally, Kimberly gave in, sighing deeply.

"Alright, I'll tell you," she said and turned to the sky. "...In the dreams...I hear screaming, a lot of screaming. It's like so many people are being tortured. I don't know how they're being hurt, but a lot of them...quickly changed. Pretending it never happened..."

Somehow, this sounded familiar.

"That's not all. The dreams... They're always the same dreams, in some sense. I keep seeing the same characters over and over again. I think they're the same..."

"What do you mean? Me-in."

"...I don't know but every night, I keep seeing animals attacking monsters. Always, the same animals. Always...the same monsters. But one of those monsters is helping those animals fight them too... Weird, right?"

"What does this monster look like?"

"...Well, it looked gentle...and yet a little scary with that tail."

"Its tail was scary? Scar-ee."

"Yeah. Would you believe it has a blade at the end of its tail?"

I was having a bad feeling in my guts. I didn't like where this was going. Even Ax was looking uneasy.

"Kimberly... What else did it look like?" he asked.

"I can't remember much but...I think it had blue fur."

Ax suddenly became staggered. Tobias and I nearly fell off the tree.

Kimberly dreamt of an Andalite.

However, there were more about her dreams than I expected. She continued.

"Even though these dreams are scary, some of them are a little peaceful. But...they were also confusing. In some dreams, I kept seeing six kids. I was there but...they didn't notice me. Every time I saw them, I wanted to them to notice me. I really don't know why. Maybe, I thought they could help me..."

Another pause. Wait a minute! Six kids?

"But somehow, in those dreams I felt...alone." She squeezed her knees tight. "But that sounds funny, right? No matter what, they're just dreams."

"Kimberly..."

"They're just dreams," she again said. This time, I saw a gleam of something in her eye.

Fear.

We all could see it. It was so clear that it made me wonder if she was about to go to the brink of insanity.

Who would have thought you could be so scared of such dreams?

She quickly got up, surprising Ax. Then she went to her mutt and untied him. She turned back to Ax.

"Hey, Phillip, wanna go for a walk?" she asked, smiling cheerfully.

Her expression changed so quickly as if she was hiding it or something. For a while, Ax looked at her, then noticed her tight grip shaking on the leash. He then got up.

"Yes, a walk would be nice."

They then left the campsite. We followed them closer but not too close. I didn't want that dog snapping at my tail.

(Marco, you should demorph now. I'll keep watch on them from here on,) said Tobias.

(Not today, my feathered friend. No way am I missing this. Besides, I've got plenty of time.)

(So you say.)

Ax and Kimberly walked for a while. They didn't talk this time. Most of the time Ax tried to say something, probably because he wanted Kimberly to speak to him but something stopped him now and then. Maybe it was because Kimberly wasn't smiling anymore.

Finally, they reached a cliff edge and at once Kimberly's face lit up, staring at the mountains and the trees below.

"Ain't it cool? The view is so beautiful. It's even wonderful if you see the sunset and sunrise," she said.

(What's so great about seeing the cliffs here? I've seen them everyday. On land and in the sky. And Tobias practically lives near them,) I said.

(Gee, aren't you caring?)

Kimberly went on talking. "My friend told me it's even better when the wind's blowing. Cool and at the same time, Nature's calling you."

(What?) Tobias uttered.

(Do not ask. I don't know as well,) Ax explained.

"Say, Phillip, did you know that if you stay near the edge and at the right time the wind comes, you'd feel like flying?" Kimberly suddenly said.

"Is that true?" Ax asked, his eyes lighting up with amazement.

(NO, IT'S NOT!) I yelled. (That's suicide!)

"Yeah, but truth be told, I'm too scared to do that. I've got a small phobia of heights. But my friend could do it so easy. He wasn't afraid that he could fall off the cliff."

"...Your friend, he seems like a close friend to you. Fri-end. Am I right?" Ax asked.

"Yeah, he was."

"Was? What do you mean?"

"...It's been a long time ago since I last saw him. He was a nice man, a Native American. He was the one who found me long ago," she told him, then took a seat on a boulder and stared at the sky. "I was alone that time. It was raining too... He was the one who discovered me. I still remembered him taking me under his wing. He was kinda like a grandfather to me. That was the only memory I ever had. What happened before that, I dunno. Can't seem to remember."

This was something new to me. Hearing her past like it came from some true rescue TV program. I thought she had a childhood like any other kid had. You know, playing tiny-tot toys and saying, "Mummy, mummy! Look what I did!"

"A week later, he handed me over to the rangers. Would you believe it? I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with him. But...he told me I had a life to live on."

Then a moment of silence.

"He's probably dead by now. He was an old man after all."

Another moment of silence. God, it was so quiet, a needle dropping could break it.

"He told me...that after a person dies, their spirit lives on, taking the shape and soul of an animal. His people's ancestors were animals that protected them. He said that even today, the spirits of his ancestors were protecting him. And they are protecting me too." She looked at him with a smile. "I think he's also watching me. I don't know what animal form he's taking now but I know he watches over me. I think those who are gone are watching over you very closely and dearly."

Ax just stared at her, looking surprised. At the same time, he was mesmerized. He turned to the scenery.

"I had a brother. He...died a long time ago," he said.

"Oh... So...do you think that he's watching over you?" she asked.

"...Yes, I think he is."

"That's good... Phillip, I need to tell you something," said Kimberly.

"What is it?"

She opened her mouth to speak. No words came out and slowly, she closed it to a frown.

"Kimberly?" Ax called.

She shone another smile. A very weak one. "It's nothing... Nothing really. I've gotta go."

"So soon?" he said, sounding disappointed.

(HELLO! You can't stay human forever!) I cried out.

"You should go, y'know. It's gonna be lunchtime soon. You can't be planning to stay and eat with me, right?" she said.

Ax frowned, which frankly, Kimberly noticed it. She slowly smiled.

"Tell ya what. Same time, same place? That is if you're free tomorrow," she said.

Immediately, Ax looked like his spirit was being lifted. "Y-Yes! I mean, yes, of course. Cos-rre. I would like that."

Oh MAN! This girl really has him under a spell!

"Alright, I'll see ya then," said Kimberly and with a wave of the hand, she was off with her dog by her side. Ax waved back and for a very long time, he watched her leave. His hand hung in the air and it didn't seem like he wasn't going to put it down.

(Okay, that's it,) I said and quickly demorphed and morphed back to raccoon.

(What are you doing, Marco?) Tobias asked above me.

(What I should have done. Maybe I can scare her off if I bite her ankle and make her think I've got rabies.)

(Ax isn't going to like this.)

(That's why you're going to help me with this. You'll be taking him out of the woods.)

(And how should I do that, Einstein?)

(Bring him to the mall if you have to. Buy tons of Cinnamon buns too. Just SOMETHING to keep him away.)

(Fine, fine. Guess we have no choice if this keeps up. I'll tell Jake to come along. He's got to know about the dreams.)

(What's there to know of?)

(Marco, she had a dream of an Andalite. What's worse, she could have dreamt about us.)

Those words hit me like a ton of bricks but I knew it was true.

Six kids...that was the same number as us, the Animorphs.

Is it even possible to dream of people in real-life?

If that was the case, it gave more reason to get rid of her. Even if she didn't know what her dreams meant, we couldn't risk it. She was bound to figure them out.

Five minutes later, I rushed back to the campsite. Which, to my disbelief, was trashed.

By a pack of sneaky raccoons.

One of them squeaked when they saw me approach. Kimberly's bag was torn wide open with food scraps and plastic around the campsite. Clothes and the book were thrown everywhere.

How the rascals got here, I wondered. Then I remembered Cassie telling me they have an acute sense of smell when it comes to food. Things with food left in the open would attract them. It was then I remembered a package of gummi bears and a couple of plastic containers.

Whoop-sie.

RUSTLE! The bushes moved. Coming in was Kimberly and Malcolm.

She looked up and saw the mess and the raccoons before her. Her eyes bulged.

She let it out.

"GET OUT! SCRAM YOU LOT! OUT! OUT!"

Whoa, that nearly deafened my sensitive ears.

I quickly dove under the bushes. Her dog began chasing the raccoons, scaring them away with his growls and barks but they were more frightened by Kimberly's swaying arms.

"SHOO!" she shouted, scaring the last raccoon out of the campsite.

Kimberly wheeled around, staring at the junk that was once what she had packed in her backpack. She fell on her knees in total shock and sulked.

"My food... All my food..." she whined, staring at the mess around her. "That was supposed to last me for two weeks!"

Double whoop-sie.

Hey, it's not my fault I left out some containers for other rascals to come snooping in. She should have seen them and pop them back in her bag! But I could look on the bright side. With no provisions, Kimberly would probably pack up and leave. Better yet, GO HOME!

Kimberly stopped her annoying whining and took a couple of quick breaths. Steadily, she got up, looking about as if there was a solution in reach.

"Don't worry, girl. You've got cash so all you need is to run down to town and buy groceries. Just need to cover myself up in case anyone I know shows up at the grocery store. Okay," she said to herself.

WHAT?! That wasn't part of the plan! MY brilliant plan to be exact!

A whimper made her gaze down. Her doggy companion nudged its nose at her hand.

"Oh, that's right. I can't leave you here," she said, biting the nail of her thumb. "Hmm... Think, girl, think. You don't want bears or wolves to eat him up."

The dog grumbled. Like that didn't sound good to a dog's ears.

Kimberly thought for a moment. She snapped her fingers minutes later. "I know. The clinic. I can send you there for a check-up while I'm gone. That's gotta be the safest place for a dog like you, Malcolm." She rushed over to her bag but stopped. "Oh no. One of my classmates lives there... This is bad. Hmmph! What do I do...?"

She was frustrated. Of course she would be. That's Cassie's place she was talking about.

"Well then. I'll just have to risk it. There's no turning back."

This was getting worse and worse by the minute. She was so persistent in doing this. If this kept up, it's going to make one fine equation. Odd girl plus dreams plus aliens, morphing, blah, blah, blah, you know the facts, equal odd situations and pandemonium!

So I was being paranoid. Well, when you've been fighting aliens for a while, you'd be in the same shoes as I was.

Kimberly packed away what was considered to be her stuff and not the tore bits and pieces lying around. She gathered up a jacket, some cash, hair band and a cap, tied up her hair and curled it under the cap. She wore the jacket on and zipped it up that it covered her mouth. For a minute, you'd probably think she was a boy.

She hid her bag well under some dead leaves and took the dog's leash.

"C'mon boy. Hope you don't mind seeing the vet so soon," she said. At first the dog was reluctant to go but trotted by her side.

Ooooh boy. Won't Cassie be soooo surprised to see what's coming at her barn door.

* * *

_Am I so fragile that if I snap, I'll break? People stay strong when they're faced with any kind of bad situation. I wonder if I can keep being strong as much as possible like them._

_I know that's not possible for me and I'd like to ask those people how they do it. But I can't give up so easy. Not now. I have to look for other options. I've got to look for another way if I want this to stop._

_There is always another option. That's what Antinanco's words meant. I just had to find it._

_Not easy as it sound, huh?_

_Well, running away seemed like my best option for now. Not the greatest, I know. It doesn't keep the dreams away but it might stop people from getting hurt and I don't need to look at death as my only choice._

_Everything seemed so simple, except now I was losing my head._

_I was an idiot. The moment I ran away from home, I realized I haven't found that option yet. The option that could solve all my problems. I knew by now, my foster family are worried, my friends at school are wondering where I am and my life is never going to be the same. But there was no turning back._

_I just didn't want anyone to get hurt from these dreams. Especially my family._

_I wonder if there really was another way besides running. Maybe there still is another choice. I just haven't seen it yet. And if you know what that is, mind telling me please?_

_A question has started to bug me after I ran away. Will I find that option...or will I have to keep this burden in forever?_

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Yeah I know, you all find Kimberly having emotional breakdowns now and then but I figure it'd be real tiring having countless of dreams every freaky time you shut your eyelids. Believe me, I had this kind once. Unable to sleep cause your mom's watching football every late night is sooner or later gonna push me to jumping off the building. X_X

Marco: Please, do hurry up with that.

Vickie: ...Sic' him.

Marco: AHHHHH! -Blob of bugs from ch.2 and ch.3 chases him again-

Mind you, I'm a little disappointed with this chapter cuz it's mushy. I wanna do the action now and more humor but that has to come later. Sigh. Anyhow, hope you all will enjoy it.

Btw, can Ax thought-speak in human morph? Just wondering in case I got this wrong.

And yes, I thought of putting in Kimberly's dream of what to grow up to since we used to do that at the age of 13 or 14. And what better way then to be talented at cooking.

Which is great for Ax, ain't it? It was clear to me what kind of female Ax would like! XD

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all those readers and their great reviews: Al_bhed-Rikku, Jayla Marl, Quillian, estrid2006, Birdie num num, jla2snoopy and Flames and Chaos. Hope ya all will enjoy this chapter.

Oh, I keep forgetting to put this up so forgive me if you don't see this in my previous chapters. Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs but I do and officially own Kimberly, the black suited human and Kimberly's family.


	6. Return of An Enemy

**Chapter Five: Return of an Enemy**

_**Kimberly**_

_I never thought I'd do this. Malcolm is my closest friend now and I didn't want to leave him behind. Still, to go to my classmate's place was like I was gambling with risky cards. I was sure my foster parents asked everybody I knew at school if anyone has recently seen me. I knew that if I went, my classmate might recognize me and give a call straight away._

_But if I wanted to run away, I needed food to go for the journey and dogs aren't allowed in grocery stores. I couldn't leave him in the woods, now could I?_

_About Malcolm, his story was a strange one. He was a stray with collar but no name tag when I found him in the old construction site that day. I decided to take a shortcut because I was late for school. My broken arm was the problem. I could have asked Mom to drive me but I told her not to worry since she had to prepare an exhibition for the community club that early morning._

_I saw the dog there, looking at me. I left but that same day, in the afternoon, I saw him outside my classroom window... He was there, as if he was waiting for me. _

_I was shocked to see him. I didn't know why he followed me to school. Maybe he needed someone to be his owner. So, I took him home after that. _

_Malcolm is the only one who truly understands me. When I cry, he tickles my face with his tongue. When I feel troubled, he sits by me. When I am lonely, he is always there._

_And when I wanted to run away, he wanted to follow no matter how many times I told him to stay. The night I ran from home, he bit on my sleeve and tried to stop me. He didn't want me to go by myself._

_It would be a hard and dangerous trip for a dog to tag along._

_But I didn't want to be lonely._

_

* * *

_

**Rachel**

I was at Cassie's place for the morning. I still couldn't believe Ax has found someone he liked. I had to talk to somebody about this and who better to talk to than Cassie.

This was all so exciting for some reason. It was going to be a problem if that girl would get us in a whole lot of trouble. Worse still, she might become part of the Animorphs if she were to find out.

But I thought for now, let Ax experience a little 'human' love in his life. We would deal with Kimberly later if she ever finds out about our secret. I knew I might regret it later, being the fact this girl could spell out trouble for us but you've got to admit. Seeing an alien fall out for a human is a rare sight.

"I wonder if we'll have to start giving Ax tips on dating," I said, coming up plans to get that 'relationship' a little more interesting.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Cassie asked while she tended a bird that got caught in some power lines.

"Shouldn't I? It's obvious Ax isn't going to stop seeing her," I told her. "After all, love does some crazy things to a guy... Or in this case, an alien."

"Sure, it is but to fall in love with someone who just ran away? And only because of dreams?"

"Maybe she was just playing around with Ax. You know, a joke?"

"I don't think so. I wonder why on earth she'd run away so sudden. Her parents were really worried last night."

"Yeah, so I noticed. I saw them posting hundreds of posters everywhere. I took one from school," I said, slipping out the folded poster from my pocket and then passed it to Cassie. "So quick they'd get on with missing person posters. Guess the police aren't helping much."

Of course, the police wouldn't bother helping. Some of them were Controllers in the department so no doubt they weren't any good to the public.

Cassie opened it and stared at the picture of Kimberly in a smile, long brown hair, fair skin, average height and only showing one green eye to the world. She frowned.

"I wonder if something bad happened with her family Do you think she was abused?" she asked.

"I don't think so. Jake and I went over to her house as two magpies this morning. We saw a lot of family photos. It looked like she had a happy life there. I think her whole family cared about her." I sat down on a bale of hay.

"If she had a good time, why'd she run away from that?"

"That's not all. We found some adoption documents in her parents' bedroom," I said. How I found them? The window was opened and we morphed to human and looked through some files they kept in a bookshelf. The family was out putting the posters that time. "Kimberly is their adopted daughter."

"What?" said Cassie. "She was adopted?"

"Seems like it. She was adopted eight years ago after being discovered lost near Vancouver. The foster home believed her biological parents abandoned since they weren't found at all. Maybe she ran away because she found out she wasn't their child."

"Rachel, those are in soap operas. Besides, Ax said she told him she lives with a foster family. So that'd mean she knows."

"Well, I still think running away because dreams are haunting you don't sound a good reason to. Maybe she's hiding something."

A knock on the door caught our attention. It opened and popped in a head. You could barely see the face under the cap, not even tell if this kid was a boy or girl until you heard the voice.

"Oh, um...H-Hi." At first she sounded unsure but she got straight to the point. "Is this the clinic for animal care?"

"Yes, it is," Cassie answered. "You have an injured animal?"

"Uh, no. Not really." She opened the door a little wider and walked in was a Bernese Mountain Dog. Cassie and I looked at each other. "Do you do check-ups on pets?"

"You should try the vet downtown for that. This is a clinic for the wildlife, not domesticated animals," Cassie said.

"I...I don't trust those kind of vets. They...ah! They did a horrible check-up on him the last time! I heard your parents are really good with animals," the girl said.

"Yes, they are but I think your dog would be uncomfortable with these animals here. We have wolves here. Your dog might even scare some of the animals."

"Why?" she asked.

"Some of these animals have suffered dog attacks and I think a dog in the barn will make them a bit edgy."

"Wait! He's an obedient dog, really. Harmless too! He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Exactly what did those vets do that was so horrible?" I asked.

"They, um, they gave the wrong jab to him!"

"And that was horrible because?"

"It was for cats... And my family wasted money on that. And, and they never properly checked his lungs and all that. Ain't vets supposed to be good at their job?"

"Really? Then your family should file a court order."

"Um...Yeah, we're planning one this week," she finished with an unsteady smile.

This girl was clearly not a very good liar. And it didn't seem like she was going to go down. She was pretending to stay strong, even though she was losing the battle.

I then noticed the dog trot up to Cassie and nudge his head under her hand before puckering up his ears at her.

"My, aren't you sweet," Cassie uttered.

"See? He's really friendly," the girl said.

"I know but this is-"

(Oh for God's sake! Can't you see that's Kimberly talking to you?!)

Cassie and I nearly jumped just when Marco's thought-speech boomed throughout the barn.

"What's wrong?" the girl called Kimberly asked.

"N-No, nothing's wrong," I quickly told her. At the corner of my eyes, I could see a raccoon waving its paws high behind the glass window.

"Y-Yeah. Um, well, I think I can check over this dog. What's his name?" Cassie asked.

I thought I saw the raccoon slap his face.

"Malcolm," Kimberly said, passing the leash to Cassie. "His name is Malcolm."

"That's a nice name," said Cassie, patting Malcolm. "It's kind of odd you have this type of breed. His long fur wouldn't do well in the hot summers."

"Yeah, but he enjoys jumping in the pool to escape the heat," she laughed. "Thank you. This means a lot to me." She bent down and stroke Malcolm a couple of times. "I'll come back soon. In the meantime, this nice person will take care of you."

"Wait, you're leaving?" I asked.

"I've got some errands to do. I'll be back in an hour or so. That's okay?"

"Yeah, but..." Before Cassie could say anything, she ran off, already saying her goodbyes to us.

"Okay, that was just weird..." I said.

"Marco, is that you?" Cassie uttered. "What's Kimberly doing here?"

(Geez, where to begin?) The raccoon scurried into the barn and began to demorph into Marco. Malcolm jumped a little at first but then settled down. Until his mouth formed, he spoke. "For starters, a pack of rabid raccoons consumed her rations so she needs to go shopping but can't leave her mongrel alone in the woods for a measly hour."

Malcolm gave a grunt.

"...You're kidding, right?" I said.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"That...does explain why she's leaving him here," said Cassie.

"And if we catch up, we can find out what diabolical plots she's cooking up!"

"Wait, are you going to follow her?"

"No, I want to ask her out again. OF COURSE, I'm going to follow her!"

I heaved a sigh. "Marco, Marco. Are you still hung up over that incident? She just said no to you and that's that."

"I am not!" he snapped. "Why isn't anyone taking me serious? Those dreams of hers are freaky!"

"What about them?"

"She dreamt of an Andalite! What's more, she could have dreamed of the Animorphs!"

Cassie's eyes shot wide open. I nearly screamed my heart out.

"What!? You mean to tell me she knows **who** we are!?"

"Well, technically, she doesn't. It's like she's some kind of fortuneteller or something but she's particularly clueless! "

It took a while for us two to sink in. Cassie then spoke.

"Does the others know-"

"Tobias' gone to tell Jake about it. Ax knows too."

Cassie and I couldn't believe it. Kimberly dreamt of an Andalite? And us too? Does she have psychic powers or something? Worse still, would that mean our secret will be out?

But then, I was half-worried. If she had known, she would have pointed at us two on the spot and said, "You're from my dream!" And Marco confirmed that. So...maybe our secret wasn't be blown yet.

Plus, she doesn't seem the kind to pretend she hasn't seen us. She was so bad at lying in the first place.

"If she doesn't know, then it'll be alright," Cassie said.

"Alright!? You're missing the point! It'll be sooner or later when she finds out the truth about those dreams!" Marco continued. "Oddball Kim is going to be our downfall if we're not too careful! We need to keep watch over that oddball!"

"And when are you ever too careful?" I uttered and then sighed. He was right to begin with and I sometimes hated that. "...Fine, we'll watch her."

"About TIME someone said that!"

"You coming, Cassie?"

"No, can't do. I've got a lot of animals to look after today," she answered. "But are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We might find a little more about why she ran away. And maybe more about those dreams," I told her, then in a whisper, "Besides, Marco's going to cause trouble if left alone."

"Yeah, you're right... Do you think she'll find out?"

Another kid to discover our secret and the war... It was not something I looked forward to it and this was going to happen a second time.

"I hope not," I told her. "If it happens, then-"

"We'll have to stop her...right?"

Cassie's face showed it all: anxiety. I knew what she was thinking. Kimberly couldn't be that bad. You saw her too, Rachel. She looked unconfident, hesitant to even say a straight 'hello' to us. But truly...you just can't trust anyone. Not even in this kind of war.

And I just can't trust Kimberly right now. Even if she's Ax's new crush. Yet, half of me wanted to be sure she isn't going to turn foe on us... I guess it was for Ax's sake.

"We'll see what will happen," I assured her but that didn't ease her.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" Marco hollered.

So Marco and I took off. We had a hard time looking for Kimberly, flying over the city as birds. Later, we spotted her heading to a grocery store. We demorphed in an alley and caught up with her.

"I feel like an amateur spy from a really bad movie," I mumbled as we hid behind a lane of dry food. Few people were staring at us.

"Really? I picture you as a Charlie's Angel," Marco intoned.

"Oh, shut up."

We went on following her, from getting a loaf of bread to a packet of meat to a bag of apples and more. To tell you the truth, I was surprised. For a girl her age, Kimberly really knew exactly what to buy. I'd probably forget about half the things if I was sent shopping at a grocery store. I prefer clothes better.

Kimberly continued on to the soup aisle. She looked about for a while and gazed at the top shelf. Standing on her tip-toes, she tried to reach for it and managed to move one can of alphabet soup a few inches with her fingers.

"Just a little...bit," she groaned. "Whoa!"

It fell off and started to roll along the polished floor. Kimberly chased after it and when it stopped, she picked it out.

That's when she stared at it and suddenly spaced out. It lasted several minutes.

"See! She's plotting something. She must be a Controller," Marco hissed softly.

"Or she could be looking at the label, you dimwit," I growled.

We watched Kimberly put the can into her basket and go to the cashier. There, she paid, carried her grocery bag and walked out of the store. We followed her to the mall and every time someone passed by her, she would lower her cap and tighten her collar, concealing herself. Kimberly strolled on and later bought herself two Cinnamon buns.

"Very suspicious..." said Marco. "Very suspicious indeed. She buys the same buns from the same shop we always hang out."

"Okay. Now, you're being paranoid," I said. Already, I was starting to have doubt Kimberly could be a threat to us. "Kimberly is not one of 'them' and you know it! Now quit this stupid spy stuff."

"But-"

"No! Not another word!"

"Now, Xena-"

"Na-ah!" I yelled and he finally gave up. "Since we're at the mall, we might as well do a little shopping."

At the corner of my eye, I noticed a guy in his late twenties. He stood out like a sore thumb among the crowd. He was wearing clothes in white with a long and strange coat over his shoulders, which somehow his overalls looked like nothing I've ever seen in fashion magazines. Come to think of it, not even in this century. But there was something off about him. It was not that he kept staring at Kimberly as she carried on walking.

He had this ominous grin on his face.

The man in white then looked back for a bit and spotting this blond-haired woman sitting at a café, walked up to her. Good, he was another guy who wanted to hook up with someone.

"Hey. What's up, pretty?" he cried out.

The woman looked baffled. "Do I know you?"

"Of course not. But I heard you're looking for newcomers for that little club of yours."

"...Are you interested in joining, then?"

"Me? No, I'm much too busy with work. I even got some _**loose ends**_ to tie up. But I do have one person in mind who would love to join." The man in white grabbed her by the shoulders and rose up one finger at someone in the crowd.

Kimberly.

"Have her join the Sharing."

Somehow, hearing that word almost everyday was always bad news to me. The Sharing is where people join and never become the same again. How could you when you're being forced and invaded by an alien slug.

That day, however, the word and the way he said it was all dread to me.

The woman hummed to herself while stroking her chin, then raised an eyebrow to the man. "And I should take your word for granted?"

"Absolutely!" he droned.

"What makes this girl so special that the Sharing must have her?"

"Let me assure you, she has great promises. I bet she can help you with so many things at your club. After all, she might know a lot of things you don't."

"Really?" She was interested but slowly, the woman became suspicious. "What makes you think she knows something I do not?"

"I don't. I have a hunch. No need to thank me. Just consider me as your little helper, lovely." With that, the man in white walked away, still grinning coldly as ever.

The lady was still wary but she turned back to Kimberly, who was disappearing away into the crowd. With that, she got up and began to follow her.

"Fine, fine. We'll have some fun here. I think Jake and the others are around here somewhere," I heard Marco say.

"Cancel that. We got bigger fish to fry," I told him.

"Really? And I thought I could relax a little and get a latte with a doughnut at the side," Marco intoned.

"Well, well."

We wheeled back to see the man in white behind us, grinning so freely. It surprised us that he was standing there for how many minutes. But there was something familiar about the look in his eyes. They were devious.

Where have I seen them?

"If it isn't two of the famous Animorphs."

I nearly jumped in my shoes. Marco looked like he was about to scream, "He knows! He knows!"

"What? Don't recognize me?" the man said. "After all, you were the ones who turned me into a flea-infested vermin and left me to rot on that god-forsaken dumpsite."

It didn't strike me at first. I thought this man might have been a lunatic. But when he said that, I had this gut feeling...

It couldn't be...

"No way..." I said. "David...?"

Marco's mouth gapped even wider.

"Oh, but yes way. It's me, in the flesh. And I'm here for some _unfinished_ business."

It was all too bizarre. In my head were questions shouting out. Namely these.

One, what the heck was David doing here, two, why he is in his late twenties when the last time we saw him as a human was much younger than that. And three, was he going to fight us?

Then again, were we? We couldn't morph in a mall with hundreds of people everywhere.

A black gloved hand grabbed David's shoulder. He looked back. We looked too.

Standing behind him was a stranger in some sort of black motorcycle suit and helmet. Even the stranger's suit looked like something from the near future...or outer space maybe. The stranger was a lady, with the slender body that looked like any successful model that just popped out from one of my magazines. I couldn't see her face inside the helmet. Light gleamed over the orange glassed-screen.

Who was this stranger, I wondered.

"So you finally came out of the shadows. Should I introduce you to them or would you prefer the silent profile?" David said sneakily.

The grip on his shoulder tightened until I heard a sickening crack. David, however, didn't flinch an inch.

"Geez, you didn't have to be so rough. Fine, fine. We'll play the same ole game. I fight you and you fight me," David said, turning to the black-suited stranger. "But this time, I take the first move."

She didn't budge, not even speak inside the helmet. As if she didn't trust him.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt these twerps while we're playing...yet. After all I've got an eternity to torture them one by one," said David.

He turned back to us. I was ready to...to...maybe give him a punch or something. Anything but I didn't. I just froze.

"Tell your friends that David's back in town," he sneered with an insane look in his eye.

Enough to say, "I'm going to kill you all."

* * *

_It's funny. When you do something that has happened before, you get the feeling of déjà vu. I guess it's natural that it happens. Perhaps it's part of our mind functioning, helping us to remember something we had done._

_When I dropped that can, it reminded me of a very strange incident right in the grocery store. That was the day I wanted to make dinner since Mom was sick. She had a really bad fever then._

_I left home and hurried to the grocery store with a list of stuff. I was going to make spaghetti with meatballs but I didn't get the chance to because of what happened in the store._

_I did have trouble reaching for the top shelf. I did drop a can of tomato sauce and watch it roll off. But when I ran after it to pick it up, I heard someone shouting about a bomb or something. Then I looked up and couldn't believe what was standing behind the fruit stands._

_I saw a blue centaur-creature._

_A blue centaur-creature from my dreams. A REAL blue centaur-creature._

_What did I do next? _

_I fainted. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital and saw Dad and Bax looking down at me with worried faces. I never told them the reason why I fainted. Instead I lied to them as best as I could. I lied that I saw a cockroach and they bought it, being the fact that Mom and I hated cockroaches._

_Why? Maybe I didn't want to believe what I saw... No, I didn't want my dreams to be true. I tried so hard not to think they were real._

_But all that has happened, I knew there's no chance of ignoring them anymore. And no one can help me. No one will understand. Not even if Phillip could try._

_This is my problem. Nobody needs my burden. It's for the better._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: I'm baaacck!!! I've finally finished this chapter! And yes, it's David, he's back too. Only an adult version of David, dressed in white. And what's going to happen next? Let's just say one heck of a fight is going to take place. Oh and don't come to conclusions to who the black-suited stranger is. It's not one of the Animorphs. But to truly find out who, you just have to keep reading. Now onto the next ch!

...Which might take a while.

Marco: Do you always make your readers wait or you just enjoy being lazy? And what the heck is he doing here? He's our sworn enemy!

David: Oh, you're just jealous I'm grown up now and ready to kick you ass!

Marco: Not on my watch!

Vickie: If you two don't behave, I'll send Mr. Scary after you.

Marco: And who is Mr. Scary? - a giant scary-looking toy cat with bat wings stands behind them and grins toothy- ...Eep!

Vickie: Till next time! And thanks for all the reviews! :D


	7. Oh My God! A Date?

**Chapter Six: Oh My God! A Date?**

_**Kimberly**_

_I was recalling good times with my family whenever we came to the mall. Now, as I walked alone in the mall, hiding my face as much as I could, it made me think. Because I was seeing so many families together and they reminded me of my foster family._

_There would be no more family nights at Pizza Hut on Sundays, no more walks to the game arcade with my brother, no more window shopping with my mom or taking my dad to the book shop or the newsletter stand on the occasional days._

_There'd be no more being with my family again. Now that I've left them, there wasn't going to be a foursome get-together. _

_It made me feel sad._

_My family, they loved me a lot. That day I brought Malcolm home, I tried to hide him at first but Bax found him in the closet quickly. My father didn't like the idea of keeping a dog in the house. So did my brother, 'cause to him it was unfair. He wanted a cat last year but Dad was allergic to them._

_Mom however loves dogs so much that as soon as she saw Malcolm, she screamed "Ohhh, what an adorable doggie!" and declared we should keep him. Bax and Dad didn't get a chance to debate. After a while and a couple of laughs, we finally agreed to keep him. We played a game of picking a name from the hat._

_So became his name, Malcolm. Which Dad told me it meant "disciple of Saint Columbia"._

_Although they were my foster family, I loved them so much. It hurts me that I was leaving them._

_I think I shed a tear but I doubt no one saw that._

_

* * *

_

**Jake**

I sighed. I was asking myself why Marco had to call me at 8 in the morning on a weekend, why we had to give every cereal box we could find at his house to Ax when one box should have been enough, why Tobias later had to drag me to the mall before I ever had a chance to finish lunch.

And why I was spending my time at the mall watching Ax gobble down a Cinnamon bun like a starved animal.

"Sorry about this, Jake," Tobias apologized for the second time as he placed another plate of Cinnamon buns in front of him. "But it was the only way to stop him from seeing you-know-who."

"Couldn't you have thought of another alternative?" I asked with a raise of the eyebrow.

"What other choice was that? He really liked this girl."

"You're using my allowance," I groaned, pointing that out.

"I'll pay you back."

"No need. Marco will do that for you. He owes me big time. Back to business. What else did who-know-who see in those dre-"

Then out of the blue, Ax - halfway through his third one – suddenly stopped. He dropped it and quickly stood up from his seat. His mouth was wide open, showing the mashed up bun.

Seeing Ax stop eating for the first time was unnatural to us. It shocked us.

"Ax? Are you alright?" I asked.

In a whisper, he said, "It's her..."

"Who?"

"Her! Her! Her!" he yelled, attracting a lot of people sitting nearby.

As Tobias tried to pull him down, I gazed over my shoulder but where we sat, I didn't know who he meant, being that there were fifty individuals walking around in the mall. The next thing we knew, Ax bolted.

"Ax!" I yelled and we chased after him.

I had never seen Ax run so fast and so determined. He had never properly run long enough in his human morph and never this wild on his two feet.

Ax pushed his way through a pack of teenagers. He nearly tripped but with a few skips back on his feet, he kept on sprinting. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his destination.

Ax turned round a corner.

THUD!

A loud sound and a crowd of people stared bewilderedly at only one focal point. A can of soup rolled away from it.

On the floor, Ax was clutching his head in pain while in front of him, who I think was massaging her nose was a kid laying on the floor with groceries spilt from the bags, cap fallen off. But she shortly got up.

"Ouch... My face..." she whimpered. "I feel like I hit a brick wall..."

"I am sorry. Sor-rie."

Her face turned from agony to astonishment. The girl opened her eyes and slowly raised her head up, staring at Ax.

"Phillip?" she gasped softly. "What are you...?"

Slowly the number of passer-bys decreased, clearing the area. We didn't step in because the two were staring at each other for a while. We just watched Kimberly picking her groceries up before they stood up.

"Twice in one day... We have to stop meeting like this," said Kimberly. "Least you didn't scare me this time... Cracked my skull though."

"I am sorry. Sor-rie. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Hey, it's alright. I've faced worse things than a hit on the head. Not even a concussion can stop me," she assured with a bright smile, putting back the cap. "But really, meeting you again? That's real something."

"What do you mean?" Ax asked curiously.

"Well, it's like we're destined to keep on meeting. Guess Fate's playing with the cards."

Ax's face showed puzzlement. "Our destiny can play with cards?"

Kimberly giggled softly. "It's a metaphor. It's something my mom philosophizes now and then." They soon began walking. We followed. "Wonder what else will happen next. After all, everything's connected."

What were we doing? Following them sounded the wrong thing to do. We should be grabbing Ax and dragging him away from Kimberly as far as possible.

Two old ladies were whispering behind our backs, maybe wondering what two guys were up to after a couple. Okay, that wasn't what I expected the ladies to call them that. A couple? Them?

"Kimberly, were you sad?" Ax blurted it out.

She stopped in her tracks. Her expression abruptly changed. "...How'd you know?"

"You looked sad six minutes and thirty-five seconds ago. Sec-kes. Is something wrong?"

"...Hee, you must have good eyesight..." she chuckled. "I was just thinking that soon, I'll be running far away from here...away from my family... I might never get to see them again."

"You do not have to run away, Kimberly," Ax exclaimed. "Your family must be worried about you. Woo-ree-d."

"Yeah. By now, my mom must be harnessing the cops and my dad trying to hire the best detective from New York to San Francisco to even LA."

"Are they?"

"Nah, I doubt they'd be that serious in finding me...but my mom, that's a different story."

"Perhaps they can help you. With your dreams. Dre-e-ms."

Kimberly frowned. "It's not that simple. They are my family...but they wouldn't understand what I'm going through. I don't even understand myself... It's just like...I'm completely lost and alone. In a crowd of people and there's no one there to listen to me...because I know deep down...they'll never believe me..."

She let out a smile but said, "What a cruel and excruciating way to experience it...makes you wonder why you exist in the first place."

I was surprised to hear those words. So was Tobias. To say such words made me wonder what was worse. Fighting Yeerks everyday or fighting dreams every night till you wanted to break down, both especially with the fact you couldn't tell anyone. From hearing how bad her dreams were, I didn't know if I wanted to compare.

To compare the worse of the two just wasn't right.

Kimberly began to bite her lower lip before a really long pause hung. Then Ax said the most unexpected thing.

"I believe you."

Kimberly wheeled up her head, astonished, and for a while waited for him to say something, then shook her head with a smile when he didn't.

"What's to believe? Pointless dreams that could hurt people? Even scientists would confirm me as crazy, in need of paramedic," she said. "You don't have to say that to make me feel better, Phillip."

"I am not," Ax said, which changed her smile to a small gap. "I have not said I do not believe you."

Kimberly was quiet. Her eyes were with surprise but also filled with meaning. What he just said was something she must had longed to hear. She wiped her eyes and then gave a gentle smile. "You're a sweet guy, Phillip."

"I am?"

"Hee-hee! Of course, you are."

Ax became contented. I think he really liked it when she beamed at him. But slowly we saw his smile fade away. He had a heavy look on him.

"It is sad that you will be leaving. Lea-vin."

"Hm?" she uttered.

"I will not get to see you anymore."

Seeing her expression, I was sure that Kimberly didn't expect Ax to say that. Neither did I nor Tobias. Another silent pause between them steadied, even though around them was the mumbling racket of the mall.

Kimberly then raised a hand to Ax and waited for him to grab hold of it. This surprised him. He glanced at her as she grinned cheerily.

"Then let's make this a memorable day for us," she said and suddenly grasped his hand. "C'mon!"

She took off, pulling Ax along. Oh dear god, she was going off with an alien. This was really bad news.

What am I saying? It was worse news! What if Ax demorphs or gets struck as a human? What if he blows off with our secret?!

"After them!" I hollered and we scrambled off our feet, after them. We tried to catch up as they rushed up an escalator, shoving their way without being aware of the angry looks thrown at them.

We nearly lost them when they disappeared into a crowd. Tobias and I stopped to catch a breath. I hunched down, hands on knees. I glanced up and quickly spotted them entering the game arcade.

"Where'd they go?" Tobias gasped.

"There!" I yelled. "I think."

"At the arcade?"

We went in. It wasn't long till we spotted Ax and Kimberly, already sitting at a monster shooting game.

"I like this game very much. The graphics are so awesome, you'd think you're in the game," said Kimberly, tossing in three tokens.

"Game?" Ax exclaimed, confused. "Gaa-mmeee."

"Okay!" She grabbed for the two handles of one of the large yellow guns. "Now be ready. The sea snakes and sharks are real annoyin'. So are the bosses. I've barely passed the fourth level. You set?"

"But...I have not played a 'game' before. How do you play it? Pl-aa-y."

"What?" she said, giving a stunned face. That moment, a couple of sharks in the game devoured their main characters. Game Over read the screen, but it didn't catch her attention. "You've never played games before...? Wow, first time I ever heard a guy say that..."

"I am sorry. Am I supposed to know how to?" he asked. "I am not familiar with this type of electronics. Eel-lec-to-nick."

"Well, guess I have to teach you, now don't I?" She popped in another two but kept one in her hand. "Okay, this is how you played."

She explained to Ax the story of the game: you are a deep sea hunter on a verge of hunting sea monsters across the seven seas. The objective is to shoot down any creature that might be a treat to you, like sharks, sea snakes, moray eels and small monsters. At the end of each hunt, you meet the boss, a giant mythical monster. It would be a giant shark or a huge octopus. You kill it and get rewards.

"Do you see what I see?" Tobias asked, sounding shocked.

I answered, "Yup."

She was teaching an alien how to play. I was dumbfounded.

"So the machine gives us rewards? What kind of reward? Re-ward. Something to eat?"

"No, silly. It's points for your score."

"What purpose is that for? Purr-pose."

"To get the highest score. If you do, you get to be Rank. 1 and put your name in the game for all to see."

"Why would someone want to do that?"

"It's just to have fun. You sure ask a lot of questions. Anyway, all you need to do is to shoot the bad creatures and not the divers. That's all."

"I understand. It is like educating the _aristh_ in the line of fire."

"Excuse me?" she uttered, confused. I felt like coming over there and dragging Ax away from Kimberly before he'd spill anymore information we didn't want to spread. But Tobias stopped me since Kimberly was clueless.

"Oh, it is nothing. Na-thing," Ax stuttered. "I am ready to play."

"You say that now but later..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Kimberly tossed in the third token and the game started. After losing to the second boss for the second time, Kimberly decided to go for another game, a fighting one.

She chose a Tekken 3 game. Again, she lectured Ax on how to play it. A few rounds, Ax managed to win but Kimberly beat him many times, probably because she was so used to the game.

Come to think of it, I've rarely seen a girl play fighting games before. Rachel's always obsessed over fashion and Cassie with animals. It's a rare sight to even see a girl walk right into the arcade, fork out five dollars for tokens and start playing.

"Ha-HA! I win! That's three wins out of five. That means you win twice. You're gettin' better. I'd win four times before my brother calls it quits."

"Kimberly, how did you become excellent at these 'games'?" Ax asked. "Ga-meee."

"Oh, my brother got me hooked up on them."

"Hooked up? You need a fastener to play electronic programs?"

"No, silly. I mean it was my brother that got me started on games. Every Friday afternoon, he'd always drag me here just so he can have a partner to play with. But 'cause I learn so fast, he gets beaten many times."

"I see."

"...Wonder what he's up to now." Although Kimberly smiled, her eyes were a different story. I could tell. And Ax could too.

They were filled with unhappiness.

Quickly, she turned to Ax and grabbed his hand lightly. She smiled widely, hiding the pain away.

"Let's go get something to eat," she said, leading the way out of the arcade. I could tell she wanted to forget what she just said and go on with the day. No, she didn't want Ax to feel troubled over her.

She must have missed her family a lot, even if they were her foster family.

They went down two floors until they stopped at an ice cream store and took seats. Kimberly sent a quick glance at the menu in hand while Ax examined the store, as curious as a child.

"So what'd ya like?" Kimberly asked.

Ax snapped from the abundance of things in sight. She waited for an answer. Noticing there was a similar menu on the table before him, Ax picked it up and studied it.

"C'mon, pick anyone. It'll be my treat," she beamed brightly.

Ax stared at her blankly and then gazed down at the menu. "Pick anyone? A-ni-one."

He struggled with the choice giving, seeing so many ice-cream favors and pies on the menu before him. She could tell he wasn't sure which to pick or what he was to pick.

"How 'bout a Triple Chocolate Delight? With lots of hot fudge and almonds?" Kimberly suddenly exclaimed. She waved at a waiter. "We'll have the Saturday Special, please. Hot fudge and nuts included."

"Alright," the waiter said, writing that down before taking off to the counter. Not long enough a three-scoop of nutty cookie 'n' cream, chocolate-chip mint and peanut-butter double chocolate covered in thick nutty fudge and served in a small glassed bowl was brought to them.

"Dig in." Kimberly seized a spoon and took the first scoop.

"Hey, Jake," Tobias uttered as we watched them eat and talk.

"Yeah?"

"Would this be called...?" He stopped, trying to find the word.

"What?"

"A date?"

I looked at him as if he was crazy. A date? An alien on a date?! It sounded bizarre. Freaky even. I mean, an alien dating a human who has no idea that the person she's dating is an alien.

Then again, she did open up to him like a friend. And Ax was enjoying her company.

"Yeah, I guess so..."

"Marco would flip his lid off if he'd seen this."

"Rachel too, that's for sure."

The ice-cream was almost finished when I noticed Ax became slowly depressed his eyes aimed at the bowl. Kimberly noticed that too.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Uh... It is nothing," was her reply. But she could tell it was something. He was bothered that after this, it was going to end.

She reached out a hand and to his surprise, she wiped away a brown and green smudge off his cheek. The next thing that happened was that his face went red.

"...The day's still young, Phillip." With the last spoonful eaten, they got up. Kimberly paid and they were off again.

To where, I wondered. This was starting to get tiring. I checked my watch. More than an hour and half has passed.

"Left twenty minutes," I said. "We'd better get him before he becomes a human permanently."

"I hear you," said Tobias.

"JAKE!"

I nearly jumped out of my shoes when that voice shouted at full volume behind us. We wheeled around, wondering where the voice came from among the huge crowds of people. A hand waved violently. It was Marco. Man, did he have to shout so loud?

"Jake! You're not going to believe this!" he yelled, rushing over to us.

"Marco, if this is another lame excuse about Kimberly, I don't want to hear it," I moaned. "You've gotta let go. All she said was no."

"David!" he hollered. "It's David! He's back!"

My face froze. I was hoping he was just pulling my leg but by looking at his staggered face, I knew he wasn't joking.

"Oh sh-!"

CRASH!

The sound of broken glasses brought everyone's attention to a fashion shop. Its window shattered into a million pieces as if someone had thrown a brick at it. But it wasn't a brick that did the job because lying on the floor was a man in whites. A bit of blood splattered on some mannequins.

Approaching the shop, a person in black and wearing a strange helmet came into the scene.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

_For so long, it felt like I was fighting my battles by myself. It also felt like I was hiding in my closet or under my bed from my monsters because I was afraid of my dreams and losing everything from them._

_The only one time I ever felt truly relaxed was that one cold night I was next Antinanco, watching fireflies dance about. He hummed a tune as we watched the lights over the calm lake we approached. It was a breathtaking sight. I wanted to see more but I slowly became sleepy and closed my eyes. I never got to see them again when the sun came up._

_That was the only time it seemed like all my worries were gone. That even if I had lost my memories and my biological parents, I knew I was safe._

_Now that I think about it, it made me wonder. Having an experience like that might not happen to anyone in particular. It might be in a chance of 1:1 million. Meeting Antinanco, learning things I would have never know since I lost the memories of my past. It was rare to happen but I was happy to have met him._

_And meeting Phillip now, it felt like the second time. Another rare occurrence to me._

_I began to feel grateful of my life. If I didn't throw myself off the mall or do something stupid earlier, maybe I would never have these happy moments. I was an orphan to begin with and all I had were Antinanco's words to hold on when I stepped into a new family and a new life. _

_It's too bad I'll be leaving that life very soon.__ But i__t didn't matter. I was happy to meet Phillip third time in a row._

_I was happy to meet someone unique like him._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Okay, so it's not yet the battle like I mentioned in the last ch buuuuuut it's coming next CH! WOO-HOO!!! I'd like to thank everyone who has so far reviewed this fanfic. Sorry took so long to update as this one was a little harder to finish and school got me down later. *Goes to sulk in corner* I never wanted Engineering, I wanted media design…wahhh.

Marco: Ah suck it up.

Vickie: Mr. Scary?

Marco: AHHHHHHH!!! *Gets chased by Mr. Scary*

Vickie: I'm so sorry. It's been months and I think most of my readers have forgotten this. Well hope you enjoy this. XD And I have one thing to say: WOW!!! Over 900 hits on this story!?! Woo-hoo! Even though they're more on the ch 1. Ah well. I'm still happy so many looked at this. :D

And peanut-butter chocolate ice-cream, I have seen this on TV but I think it's good.


	8. Black Versus White

**Chapter Seven: Black Versus White**

_**Kimberly**_

_The day I ran away, I wondered to myself...how far can I go without turning back. How far would it take till I tire out? Can I keep going until no one get hurts from my dreams or until I can get rid of these dreams?_

_How far will I go before I can turn back?_

_I have always thought to myself if I was a mistake, coming into this world. Having no memory or biological family and being haunted by my dreams every night. I must have had a lot of bad luck before I met Antinanco. Yeah, that could be it. _

_Only I don't believe in luck. Never did._

_Keeping to myself...and begging for someone to hear me. Sounds stupid, right?_

_Was I really a mistake? So then...what was my purpose for living?_

_I shouldn't be thinking like that. But I can't help it. It can't be helped. I guess we sometimes wonder what our purposes are. If we were to do something extraordinary or plain and simple. If we were to become president of the White House or a hobo on the street._

_Purposes, everyone has that and exist for their purposes, even if they don't know what they are until they find them._

_But I began to wonder..._

_What does it truly mean to have a purpose in this world?_

_

* * *

_

**Rachel**

It happened so fast. I don't know where to begin. But oh god, everything went chaotic after those two appeared right in the mall. Some time ago, I had whispered to Marco to get the others and when David was shortly distracted by the woman, Marco left quietly and quickly.

The two went down to ground level and I followed. They took their positions in the middle of the mall and prepared for an upcoming fight.

Minutes passed but it felt like hours had gone by.

David said with a wider and colder grin, "Let's begin then," and he took the first move with a charge and a punch. The black-suited stranger parried the attack.

The next thing that happened... It was so fast. All of a sudden, I saw her striking a leg at his stomach and David was sent flying.

CRASH!

He hit the glass of a shop and collided with some mannequins.

"Oh no! Not the U2!" I shouted.

I know. I shouldn't be caring about tops at a time like this but...he got blood on the new arrival! And I was going to buy them tomorrow!

Now is not the time to be thinking about fashion, I thought.

The stranger marched towards the shop. Her pace was slow and steady. She was taking her time, not rushing over to finish the job.

But what was she planning to do next?

She stopped a couple of metres away from David. David didn't budge an inch. He just laid there on the ground, bleeding from the forehead.

"Hold it right there!"

Guns pointed at her. Five mall cops had heard the commotion and hurried to the scene, surrounding the black-suited stranger. They immediately drew out their guns from their holsters and pointed at her.

"Put your hands in the air!" one of them ordered.

She didn't follow his orders. She gazed around, probably examining the cops and guns around her.

"I said put your hands up!"

She still ignored him. Then the most peculiar thing happened.

Small lights appeared on the orange screen of her helmet. They looked like something virtual on a military computer screen, moving rapidly as she wheeled her head slowly.

It was scanning. But for what?

"Final warning! Put your hands up!"

The woman continued scanning until she locked on one of the cops. The lights on her helmet turned into a circle and blinked many times. It targeted him and the sudden glance from her made him jump.

That wasn't the only thing right down bizarre. You already know she was wearing this futuristic intergalactic suit, right? Well, there were these two weird-looking armored guards on the sides of her thighs.

The thing is one side began to glow a light blue color. Much like...

...The cube that gave us morphing powers.

A gun and might I add, a gun that looked like it came from another time in the future, materialized from that guard and drifted into her waiting hand. Luminous blue neon lines were arranged on the weapon, from handle to the barrel.

"What the-!?" one of the cops shouted, shocked to see it just become visible for her. They all were.

Mostly one of them, the one she targeted, was scared still. His knees were knocking each other, his teeth were chattering and sweat poured down from his brow. It was then I realized something. Not only was he terrified, he knew who he was dealing with.

He knew exactly he was in deep trouble.

"B-Blac-Black Massacre!" he shrieked.

He fired twice. However she swayed her head. The first bullet only managed to graze her helmet and bounced to who knew where. She swung her gun up and immediately, the second ricocheted off from the gun's indestructible handle. The woman placed a foot forth like a marathon sprinter ready on the field and took off in a dash.

She was quick. The cop couldn't respond in time, too astonished to see her already close to him, nose to helmet.

She aimed the barrel at his ear while her other free hand reached around his head.

BANG!

My eyes shut closed. My hands instinctually grabbed for my ears. The noise nearly freaked me out. I opened them seconds later.

I was horrified at the sight before me. Lying on the ground was the cop. No blood pool. His head should have been blown open but it wasn't. He was left unhurt with no gapping wound.

The question was he dead kept repeating in my mind.

The stranger stood still, unmoved by her terrifying attack and the fallen cop. But she had something in her hand.

Gray. Slimy. Had no eyes.

I couldn't believe it. I thought I was just imagining it. But I knew what was in her hand.

It was a Yeerk.

SQUASH!

In an instant, she crushed the gray slug to goo, thumb pushing forcefully on its head, then disposed the mush off her hand.

I stood there, watching her fling off the rest of the gunk from her hand. This woman, she recognized one of the cops was a Controller. Her helmet screen helped her detect the Yeerk in his head.

Did...did she just somehow yank it out from that cop? Then I questioned myself: was she friend or foe?

The other mall cops stared at her with absolute shock and terror. To them, the woman had killed a fellow officer right before their eyes.

"You...! Cop killer!!!" the first cop screeched.

Their triggers pulled and the sound of bullets flew filled the air. Again my instinct drove my hands to my ears. My eyes, however, stayed open, watching her every move as she dodged the bullets.

Her gun started to glow and shift. It was changing. Barrel, handle, frame, everything changed except the neon lights.

It became a totally different type of gun. She took aim.

Five shots fired. Right at the neck of each cop and they fell. I thought they were all dead but snores made me think otherwise. They were instantly asleep.

I was overwhelmed. They were sleeping on the job now?!

I observed one of their necks. Small dart-like ammunition pierced the skin, maybe having injected sleeping pills into the guards. What was more, the darts suddenly evaporated into thin air.

What the hell was going on here?!

The stranger turned away from the fallen cops and locked her vision to the broken window. I looked too.

David was gone. Vanished. When did he get up and walk away?

She wheeled round, glancing at where David was right now. That was her main target all along. She looked high and low but no sign of that boy...man, I mean, anywhere.

Suddenly, I saw him coming out from somewhere and charging at her with a readied fist.

"Behind you!" I hollered. The stranger quickly responded but it was already too late.

"Right here, sweetheart!" he smirked.

POW!

His fist smacked right at her head, sending her off crashing onto the floor. David hurtled, ready with more attacks to throw. The stranger, however still had some strength in her, swung herself up and swiftly parried his moves. David fired a fist but her head evaded and the fist hit concrete wall. An upper kick to his head caught him by surprise, his body spinning in the air before landing onto some tables at Burger King. The people there quickly hurried away in alarm.

Shouts made the stranger gaze over her shoulder. Everyone in the mall was in a circle, wondering if this was a rehearsed play or the real deal.

As if!

The woman examined her surroundings twice, then at David trying to get up. I realized why.

She didn't want these people to get hurt.

As David slowly got up to his feet, the stranger dashed towards the escalator. In one strong leap, she jumped and landed gracefully on the moving railing.

"You're not leaving that easily!" David hollered and followed after her. They both disappeared in the floor above.

I followed again. Up the escalators I went and searched for them on the fourth level. Shortly after that, I found them. It wasn't that different to find.

KCRACK!

I wished it was different.

From the furniture department, clerks and shoppers were rushing out in shock and panic. After all, a battle had just gone through there and tore down chairs, tables and cabinets. Not far from the entrance, the two fighters were dodging punches and throwing assaults to each other. A couple of bullets flew out but missed David.

Just when the black-suited lady evaded another sway of the fist, David counterattacked, swiftly grabbing her arm and twisting it round her back. He clamped her down onto the mattress of a king-size bed.

"Lovely, isn't it?" he uttered, keeping her pinned down as he went closer to her face. "Doesn't this give you any ideas?"

She paused for a second, then, a calm voice escaped.

"Just one."

Her gun glowed again, changing to a sharp object, a dagger of some sort. She instantly thrust it into him.

"Gargh!" David screamed in pain, letting her go.

That was his first mistake. She gave him an elbow to the stomach, wrapped her arms round his head and flung him over her back.

CRASH!

The bed's four legs broke as he was thrown onto the mattress, cushioning his spine from breaking.

The dagger in hand again changed back to the gun. The stranger took aim and fired. David on the other hand avoided five rounds and grabbed the nearest thing he could reach. A lamp stand.

He jabbed it to her and her gun dropped from her hand. Another blow to her chest with the stand and it broke in two. He tossed it aside, grabbed for her arm and shoulder and tossed her off her feet.

SMASH!

She crashed into to the cashier counter. An elderly clerk had ducked behind the counter, watching the fight from a good distance until he had to run when the lady came his way. Money spat out from the broken cashier.

The woman struggled to get up. She failed the first time.

"You shouldn't have done that, gorgeous," said David and began walking towards her.

He was going to give the final blow. I had to do something or else she'd get badly hurt.

I looked around. There was nobody in the department to see me morph. That was good. All I need to do was morph to a bear and beat the crap out of that sucker!

Crack!

My foot stepped on a piece of broken glass, probably from a vase that had been on a drawer before they were smashed to pieces.

David suddenly gazed over his shoulder and spotted me. He smiled at me wickedly.

"Lucky. How lucky, lucky, lucky."

I cursed at myself for that major slip-up.

"Maybe today I have the opportunity of killing you first, Rachel," David uttered, approaching me.

His teeth started to sharpen from smooth to razor-sharp. David was morphing. Maybe into the lion morph he was given. I tried to move but my muscles wouldn't respond. I tried to morph but my body didn't listen to me. I tried to run but I couldn't.

I was frozen. Oh, for God's sake! Move, Rachel!

A hand shot around his neck and started to strangle. He glanced to his attacker, ceasing his morph.

The stranger had gotten up the second time and launched her hand, wrapping her fingers tightly around his neck. She also had retrieved her gun and pointed it to his head.

"This is not her fight. It is not 'their' fight."

The calm voice I heard it before. It came from within the helmet of the stranger, crystal clear.

"So what!?" David shouted, grinning wider than before. "Eventually those nitwits will have to fight me! Because I'll be tearing their limbs and throwing their heads to those Yeerks! Then I'll destroy the slimeballs one by one. Including you and that girl who's nothing but a ghost!"

She remained unshaken and cool.

"Not yet..." the stranger said and soon gave eye to eye at David. "Not until I have secured her purpose in this world."

Her other hand grabbed hold for his shoulder. With all her strength, she pushed David towards the window panels.

"What!? No-!" Those were the last words I heard before...

CRASH!

They went through the window and fell.

I watched them descend, gravity helping them out. The noise of heavy bodies dropping onto metal erupted, followed by a car alarm screaming loud and clear.

I was totally shocked. She saved my life.

Oh my god. She just killed herself, along with David.

Wondering if the woman was alright, hoping that just maybe she survived, I rushed to the broken window and looked out. Down at the carpark where there was a busted car, its roof crumpled into the seats and glass everywhere on the black tarred road. On top of that was a blood-covered body. The alarm reigned on.

It was David, lying on the car. Dead.

But where was the...?

There was a ledge on the other side of the broken window. I didn't notice that. I didn't notice the five fingers clenching on it until recent.

The stranger was alive with only one hand gripping to dear life.

She reached out her other hand and placed it on the ledge. A swing of the legs and she somersaulted mightily over me and into the department. Better than I was at gymnastics!

The woman landed on her two feet with ease. Taking her time to stand up, she drifted her gun to one of the guard and in a glimpsing blue flash, it disappeared.

She then glanced at me. I couldn't see what emotion and face she had inside the helmet. I wasn't sure if she would or not draw a weapon from the guard at me.

Yet somehow, I trusted her. It was almost like that night, when we first met Eflangor and were given our powers. The sensation we had before he was found and eaten by Visser Three.

Maybe it was because she had just defeated our enemy. Maybe it was because she didn't seem like taking hold another weapon.

I just wasn't sure why.

"Do you not have to watch over someone?"

Hearing her speak, I realized this was the first time I heard her voice. I couldn't recognize whose. Her voice sounded full with confidence and serenity but also a trait I was always familiar of sometimes.

The trait of being worn down by heavy burdens.

"You best hurry and find her then," she said. "Before _they_ go after her."

"Rachel!"

I turned my head to see Jake, Marco and Tobias coming towards me. I gazed back but by then, the woman was gone.

I had more questions right then in my head. Who was she? Was she really someone who could be trusted?

And what's more, what did she mean I have to watch someone?

Then it hit me. We had just made the biggest mistake of our lives.

"Who's watching Kimberly?!" I yelled.

"What about her?" Jake asked.

I couldn't believe him. And he was the one who said we should watch over her in case of anything. Well, now was the time anything was going to happen and he had to say that!

"The Yeerks are going after her! That's what!"

* * *

_Watching the fight begin and disappear beyond the floor above me and Phillip somehow made me think for a while._

_Okay, I did wonder if the fight was some act maybe to advertise for a movie. But the intensity made me rethink. It was all too real when she shot the mall cops and did martial arts against the man in white._

_Hopefully, the cops were alright. Someone to my right made a phone call for both police and hospital straight away._

_To see that person in some sorta black motorcyclist attire fought like that, it made me think once she and the man disappeared upstairs and all became quiet after a while._

_I thought of how much courage she'd had to use. How much self-belief she'd need in a fight like that. Somehow she was the opposite of me. She had those that I could never grasp on tight enough. I'd run away as scared as a chicken._

_Then again, I would need that very soon, the kind feeling that stops you from losing your thoughts and nerves, that would push you forward to do something before you end up losing something much more than your dignity._

_Because just when the fighters vanished, I noticed from my left a woman in the crowd heading toward me and Phillip. _

_She was not someone I knew or met. I felt worried. It's just she had that look, a look I could never forget seeing in my dreams. In the dreams, the people screaming would in the end have that look. Chillingly composed._

_As if they were about to do the same terrible ordeal they had done to other innocent people and themselves._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: FIN! I'm proud to present the fight I've been bragging bout. Oh and for my last chapter…why the heck I get 2 reviews there?! I thought I'd get more! Grrr! Anyway, I've updated so hope you enjoy this action-packed ch.

The rest of the chapters from now on will be more action and bit more dramatic. I've cut down romance between Ax and Kimberly to make way for the questions of who the black-suited woman is and what's her link to the Animorphs, Kimberly and many more. But there might be some Ax/OC parts later on. Depends. Oh, and no, this is not the end of David. He still appears in a few chapters later. Or else he's likely to kill me.

David: Glad to hear that. *Withdraws hand round her neck and goes away*

Koff...Also, the next chapter may take time as I'm a little busy finishing up the first book of my own horror (bit of comedy, adventure and drama in it) series about six kids and the paranormal (and HELL I'm gonna spoil the story. No way, ny-ah!). I soon will publish it.

Warning: If you do not live in Singapore, theeeen there's little chance you'll get the first book...unless they start to decide making it worldwide. I dunno.

Before I forget, I like to thank RAW19, Laur4 and Mrowrkat98 for the reviews! Merci! :D

That's all folks. And no, Marco's not here becuz he's being chased by Mr. Scary.

-Somewhere far from Vickie's Studio-

Marco: *Still running from Mr. Scary* SOMEONE SAVE MY PRETTY FACE!!! *Disappears into the sunset*


	9. A Nightmare Come True

**Chapter Eight: A Nightmare Come True**

_**Kimberly**_

_Why was fear taking over me right on the spot? _

_I didn't know why and if I asked, I knew nobody would know the answer. But...it was swelling deep inside of me, like those restless nights whenever I woke up from my dreams and crawled under my bed, crying to myself._

_So why was I having it now? I was wide awake. I was at the mall, not in my bedroom and it was board daylight too. _

_So why?_

_The woman was approaching us, cutting her way through the dense crowd. Her expression never went away. Why wouldn't it go away? I was beginning to hate that expression._

_Loathed it and feared it._

_It was then I realized something. I prayed so hard that something like this wouldn't happen. That was last night... That dream..._

_I begged in my mind that she'd go away. I pleaded, hoping someone would hear me. But then again, no one has for a very long time. So she never went away, just continued on towards us._

_My worst nightmare was going to come true for the second time._

_No... Don't let it come true...! Please go away!_

_I didn't want that to happen!_

_

* * *

_

**Ax**

The battle between the male human in white and the black-attired female in the open space of the "mall" had seen to have discontinued. The hostility had struck me in amazement because I have never seen such ruthless methods used in human combat skills.

But the technology that human in the black apparel shocked me the most. It was able to change from one weapon to another.

It was as if her weapon was combined with the morphing powers of the _Escafil Device_. But that was impossible! Even my people had failed such an attempt to create a changeable weapon at the user's command.

Yet, it was possible for this human. How could this be?

Once the commotion had ceased, I turned my head to see what Kimberly's reaction was to this. How irksome it is without my stalk eyes. It is a wonder how humans can endure with only a limited number of eyes for sight.

However, it seemed that Kimberly no longer paid attention to the fight. Her attention was now to another female human walking towards us, who too had no interest to the finished conflict.

Kimberly looked uneasy.

"Hello," the female human greeted. "My name is Courtney Nicolson. A friend of yours told me about you. He said you were interested in joining us."

Kimberly kept quiet. I however, spoke out.

"What do you mean to join you? Jo-nnnah."

The human stared at me with the type of facial expression Rachel gives as she plays with her eyebrow. "Do you have a problem pronouncing?"

"No," I simply said.

She did not speak for eleven seconds but continued on with a smile. "Perhaps you'd like to bring your friend along too. Company is good, you know."

"Where is this place you are going to bring us? R-ssss," I said.

The next unexpected event happened. I felt something wrap around my human hand tightly. I glanced down to see Kimberly's hand holding mine, then to her face.

She was terrified. Her eyes showed a "dead giveaway", as Marco would call it. I became suspicious. There was a trait Kimberly could see in this human that I could not see it, not even if I was an Andalite again.

Until I realized why when I was given my answer.

"Why, the Sharing of course."

I felt trepidation take over me in an instant. This human was a Controller.

I had feared one day this would come, especially to me. I was anxious of the idea that there was a day I would end up as a Controller if I was not cautious. I did not wish to return to the nightmare I had a Yeerk in my head...well, that time it was indeed for the purpose of my health but still, it was vile and uncomfortable for me.

However, spending with Kimberly for the one and a half days, a greater apprehension than that had recently come to my thoughts.

To lose Kimberly to the Yeerks was my newest fear.

Right there, I hoped the Controller would reconsider thinking of recruiting Kimberly or Kimberly rejecting her offer. I hoped either one of them, then Kimberly would be safe and I would have a clear free conscience.

The Controller showed no sign of reassessment and Kimberly said nothing in response. Only her grip on my hand suddenly grew tighter.

"It will be so wonderful to see new blood in the Sharing. You'll have a good time, I guarantee," Courtney exclaimed.

I must think quick in order to assure Kimberly's safety, I thought to myself. I had to be quick.

"I am sorry but we have some important...shopping to do," I said, remembering the word Rachel always said whenever she approached this building. "I do not think we have enough time to come to your...Sharing."

Saying the last word to the Controller was like a Dracon Beam aimed at me. No, much worse than that.

"Oh...well, how about after your shopping? If you're free this afternoon, I'd be glad to tell you more about our club."

"We can't... Our...parents might be worried if we were late for...dinner."

Kimberly gazed at me. Her face was twisted with terror and surprise. I presumed she must have figured my tactics to discontinue the Controller's pursuing propose. She stared at the floor and broke out with a larger quantity of fright than before.

The Controller lifted an eyebrow. "Tomorrow then?"

"We have to go for education tomorrow."

"Really?" Courtney uttered, crossing her arms. "I didn't know there was school on a Sunday."

I mentally scolded at myself for that terrible mistake. I had forgotten tomorrow was still one of two recreational days for humans. I tried to think of some way to escape this but no matter how hard I tried, no idea came to mind.

I didn't know what to do.

But Kimberly came up with a plan.

"Run."

The thin brown container that restrained her supplies flew right at the Controller and I felt her pull me away before I could see the results of her sudden throw. Indeed, the Controller shouted whilst her arms parried up. The brown container broke weakly and the items tumbled out.

I was amazed that Kimberly had thrown her brown container at Courtney as a diversion. It worked. We soon disappeared into the thick clusters of humans, Kimberly leading the way.

"After them!" I faintly heard the Controller yell out loud.

I looked over my shoulder, only to see the Controller and two comrades chasing after us. No doubt more Controllers.

"This way!" Kimberly hollered.

I was not very good at running. I always had been. Kimberly would have trouble holding my hand as we ran. However, she never let go. She held on tight.

We ran into a red and dark green place, which I was told was a restaurant lately. The human that stood in front of the restaurant yelled, "Hey! Stop!" as we entered. There were tables and chairs everywhere, humans sitting down and others carrying serving dishes.

I halted. I took notice of the plate of steaming black-covered fish on one table and a bowl with long thin strings in liquid on another.

"Don't stop now!" Kimberly yelled meekly and took my hand again.

She was right. Behind us, the three Controllers shoved aside the human standing patrol outside the restaurant.

Kimberly led the way, knowing better of this place than I was. The humans that wore the same white and black uniform were aware of us and tried to stop us. I did not know why. Maybe it was discourteous to intrude into the restaurant without permission. Why I believed that was because the others behind us stopped the Controllers from entering any further.

Kimberly held up her other arm and pushed open a white door just as another human in the white and black uniform walked out. Surprised and with us running to his direction, the human darted aside but accidentally dropped five bowls of tiny white pellets.

It was a waste of good food to me but I kept going.

Inside, everything was silver, except for fresh and cooked substances. And there were many smells. A small number of humans looked at us in surprise, wearing white coats. One of them, a large human with a white hat, stood out in front of us.

"Children not allowed in kitchen!" he shouted in an unusual tone, one I have not heard. His skin was a different color from those my friends had.

I looked back, expecting to see the Controllers catching up soon. Conversely, the room was too narrow to go past the human as a long metal table was arranged in the centre.

Any longer and we would be caught.

"Three people are after us because we heard they were going to steal your secret recipe!" Kimberly shouted.

"What?!" His thundering voice nearly frightened me. A vein on his forehead swelled and his face turned red. "No thieves steal my recipe!"

The human's temper cooled a little once he gazed at us. He then gave a bow to Kimberly, saying, "Thank you for telling me this. I take care of them."

"Thank you," Kimberly uttered. The human kindly let us through in time before the Controllers came into the silver room.

"There they are!" one of them yelled and dashed after us.

The white-coated human glared angrily at them. Before the Controller could react, he took hold of the nearest thing his hand could grasp.

PONG!

A large black item, which humans called it a wok, was his weapon. The Controller lay there unconscious, covered in half-cooked greens that was dropped from the wok.

"Steal my recipe, will you!? Get out of my kitchen or I call police!"

We ran out of another door. However, this was not into another room but out the back of the mall.

We turned right into an alley. We continued to run until four minutes and forty seconds later and hid behind a dumpster.

My lungs hurt. While catching my breath, I peered out to look for the Controllers but there were none. Apparently, they were still being held back by the white-coated human. Kimberly sat on the ground beside me, clutching her stomach as she panted heavily. The human term "stitch" had attacked her insides.

I could not help but be grateful for the both of us. We were safe. I would not have to worry for Kimberly's sake.

However, I was naïve. Kimberly suddenly got up and began to walk away.

"Kimberly," I cried. "You must not go. They might come this way. Co-mmme."

She did not reply for a moment. She hadn't showed her smile since the start of the chase. It made me worried.

"It's okay... Nothing bad is gonna happen..." Kimberly exclaimed wearily. "Not this time..."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Just stay there..."

I was wondering if she was still troubled about the Controllers.

"Kimberly, it is alright. I assure you," I said as I slowly stood up. "I know who can help-"

"I SAID STAY!"

Her shout nearly frightened me. It somehow made me jump. Such force she used, one that I was never given from neither Andalites nor my friends. Her hands clutched the side of her top clothing tightly. She choked softly, finding the right words. Kimberly raised her head and gazed miserably at me.

Streams of water came running down from her eyes. There was a word humans called them.

Tears.

As an Andalite, we have no tears but humans do. I only learnt that humans used the water discharged from their eyes to stop them from dehydrating.

There was another reason for that as well.

And it was sorrow.

"I don't want you to get caught..." Kimberly said.

I was at first confused but it took a moment before I clearly understood why she said that.

"Kimberly...did you have a dream about me?" I asked.

She only smiled back weakly.

"...Guess the cat's out of the bag," said Kimberly. "It's alright... Everything's gonna be alright..."

Her eyes glanced down to the ground and then closed. However, that did not cease the water flowing from them.

"Cause I won't let the same fate happen to you too... I won't let that happen...not to anyone ever again."

"Kimberly," I said worriedly.

"No one's gonna die..."

The last words she spoke were somehow appalling to me. In my thoughts, I questioned why she would say such words. Did she have a dream that could foresee one's demise? Can that be possible for humans?

Although I knew little of Kimberly for the past several days...but to hear her speak like that was unimaginable and unanticipated.

"Just stay here..." Kimberly choked with her trembling smile. "Please...just stay here..."

She turned, ran the other way and passed the door. The door flung open and out came the Controllers.

"There she is!" one of them shouted and pursued after her. I watched them disappear farther away.

Kimberly was going further until I could not see her anymore. She was gone from my sight.

Gone...

I bolted up and ran after her. I did not want her to be gone. I did not wish for that. Even though my time as a human was short...even if she might become a Controller if she was caught...

I did not want her to go away.

"Where'd you think you're going?"

I glanced over my shoulder. Standing there behind me was the human in white, smirking unnaturally. Red liquid dripped from his mouth. He simply wiped it away with his thumb and grinned.

"Hello, Ax-man," he greeted evilly.

I froze.

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

How did this human know the name my friends has always called me by? It was not possible!

"Oh come on now. You should know who I am. You and Rachel were the ones who disposed of me.

I became shocked. I clearly knew what he meant.

"Remember now?" he asked, observing my astonishment.

I had disposed of an individual out to a desolated outcrop with Rachel's aid and left him there.

It was because that individual was a threat to us back then.

And he was so now.

I quickly demorphed without hesitation.

(Ax!)

I gazed up with both my stalk eyes. Tobias was above us.

"Let me guess. Tobias is here too, right? Tell Tobias I said hi."

(How did he know?)

(Tobias,) I began, finally finishing my morph. (I advise you to warn Prince Jake and the others that this is-)

(David standing right there as an adult, alive and human? Yeah, we figured.)

"Now move aside. I've got to catch up with that girl."

He was after Kimberly but for what reason? I was affirmative he would target me and my human friends first.

I stood my grounds. I would not let him pass, not to pursue after Kimberly.

(I will not allow you to do that,) I said.

He raised an eyebrow and his hand went to his chin. "This can't be right. You've got no connection with her. And I certainly don't think that lady has told you all about her yet. No, not even by a long shot. So why...? Is there a reason? Is it because you've just met the girl?"

I said nothing.

"Oh? Wait a minute." He burst with cruel laughter. "Don't tell me this Andalite likes the little freak? This is too good to be true! That would be so unlike you, Ax-man!"

It made me enraged. He was disdainful of Kimberly. I wanted to assault him right now but as a warrior, to let out my anger seemed dishonest. After all, I was saving my wrath for someone else.

"Well, then. This makes it more entertaining. I wonder what your expression would be if I were to break her neck."

The rage continued to build inside of me. The same I had against Visser Three for the murder of my brother.

(What do you want with Kimberly? I figured you'd want us dead more than ever. So why are you after her?) Tobias demanded.

"Oh? You want to know why?" David smirked. "Because she's nothing more than a ghost."

I was surprised and also confused of what he said. What was he playing at?

"Yes. Nothing but a ghost... That's what she is. And that's what she'll be forever. She ain't worth the time to be saved by you lot. She's only here because of someone." Suddenly, his obnoxious smile changed to an expression of hatred. "That someone couldn't mind her own damn business and had to go change everything. She's got guts to pull it off. I give her that!"

His sinister smile returned and he gazed at the sky mercilessly with arms held up.

"But no matter, it won't be long. I'm quite happy it turned out this way. I get to meet you guys again. It'll be almost the same as before and there's nothing that woman can do about it."

(What are you talking about?) Tobias uttered.

"Very soon...that little girl is going to be a Controller."

That was his plan. The lunacy he expressed told me so.

"And all that efforts Elias has put through will go to waste."

Elias?

"And I will be truly happy... Truly a beautiful ending for everyone. Perhaps even better if I were to annihilate that ghost by my own hands instead by those filthy Yeerks."

I had enough. I readied my attack. (You have to go through us first!)

Although it was Tobias and me, I was positive we could take him down. Yet, David was confident. Much too confident.

"Really now, do you want to fight me? I bet I'm stronger than I was before a scrawny little rat. And I know more morphs than all you Animorphs put together. What chance do you have against me?"

(You're bluffing,) I said.

"You don't believe me? How about testing it, Ax? Unless you're chicken, I suggest you move out of the way so I can enjoy watching the precious little girl you like be taken in."

Ka-clank!

I heard a mechanical sound of an item being loaded into a weapon. I directed my stalk eyes to where the sound was. On the top of the building, I took notice of a long nozzle of an unusual gun with blue lights streaming along its black material.

A finger was on the trigger.

I could barely hear the first shot.

A hole suddenly appeared into the wall an inch from David's head as bits of solid material flew. David gazed up to the roof and grinned with madness in his eyes. He knew who his assailant was.

"Is that all you got!?" David hollered at the intruder. "HA! Eight years, we've been fighting each other and that's all you have to give!? Don't make me laugh! You can do better than that! You can do a lot better! Shoot me countless of times! Kill me again and again! But those are not going to stop me! Oh no! You know as well as I do! DEATH IS BUT CRAP TO THE BOTH OF US!"

Silence remained stilly. To my amazement, as I adjusted my sight to examine better of who the shooter was, I recognized immediately the orange-screened head covering.

The assailant was the black-attired human, lying flat near the edge. She did not move from her position, her hands still on the gun.

A stream of red thin light suddenly appeared, coming from her gun. It waved about wildly until it locked aim onto David's temple. A stiff moment passed as I expected the human to pull the trigger. It was then I realized her true action. David did too. He shortly became furious.

She was mocking him.

"You damn bit-!"

Blood splattered.

On the ground.

On the wall.

And dripping from the small wound in his forehead.

(Oh dear god...) I heard Tobias begin but he never finished his sentence.

A betrayal he was and yet I wondered if that fatal move seemed too much for him. David sat there, his back leaning on the wall. His eyes showed nothing but their whiteness.

He was dead.

I glanced up. Under the gleaming sunlight, I watched as the black-attired human stood up. The gun had suddenly disappeared from her hands in a blast of light.

She then slowly walked forward and let herself descend.

My four hearts pounded. There was something utterly strange and also utterly frightening about this black-attired human. She showed no sign of panic as she gracefully freefell and landed easily with no fractured bones.

This human was no ordinary human at all. A calm yet cold-blooded killer, who was enemy to David...

Who was she?

The black-attired human examined the dead body before her and then gazed at me. I readied myself, querying if she would attack me next. However, I rethought that as she was weaponless. She would not last a chance against an Andalite warrior without protection.

I questioned myself whether David was her main target all this time... but it seemed like he was nothing but an obstacle.

She raised her arm and pointed her index finger. Was she telling me something? A direction? I glanced over my shoulder to the alley behind me where she was pointing.

Kimberly.

I had forgotten about her. How foolish of me!

How stupid!

(Tobias! We must find Kimberly!) I shouted and began to track down the alley. (The Controllers are after her!)

(What about her?)

I took one last look through my stalk eyes. The human did not move from where she now stood. Her arm was now down. All she did was watch me leave until I could not see her anymore. Tobias said nothing so I assumed he had his answer.

(...Alright. I'm going ahead. Keep well hidden and I'll lead you the way.)

(Thank you, Tobias.)

(...Ah! I see her! Looks like she's lost them but she's still running. Turn left, it'll lead to another alley. No people to see you.)

I did as I was told, Tobias being my guide. I followed his bearings and continued pursuing.

(You're getting close,) he said. (Kimberly sure knows how to run. She isn't stopping for anything.)

She must have been very afraid. I wished I did not lose my trend of thinking back then. I could have done something before she ran away. Kimberly was the one who risked herself for me because of one dream and I did absolutely nothing. Deep down, I was filled with regret and irritation at myself.

All I could do now was to assure her safety, I believed. I hoped for that because I knew she was not ready for the invasion, not ready for us. She was also not ready to know who I truly was.

She wasn't ready to know these things.

(She's at the next corner. Don't get too close though.)

I agreed but I wanted to see if she was all right. That was enough for me to be assured.

I stopped at the corner Tobias declared and peered. Kimberly was there, safe but fatigued. She kept on going even if there was a barrier, a "wire fence" blocking her path.

That did not stop her. Her hands gripped the wire and she started to climb up. She did not want to stop running, not until she was sure she was distracting the Controllers away from me. Although she was tired and the Controllers were no longer present, she climbed over the fence and slowly scaled down.

Humans are peculiar species and she among all was the most.

(Ax! A van's coming!)

Kimberly dropped off the wire fence. The moment she landed on the other side, "the van", a ground transport machine on four wheels drove past but halted at once. Its side entrance opened swiftly and two pairs of hands stretched out to grab her.

"Let go of me!" Kimberly screamed as they pulled her in.

(Kimberly!) Without thinking, I hurtled after them to try and save Kimberly. However, one of the passengers, a Controller, noticed me.

"Andalite! Shoot it!" he hollered. The other drew out a Dracon Beam and aimed at me.

Zzzzzzzzzaaaaaappppp!

I dodged the shot and continued charging but it was much too late. The Controllers shut close their entrance and the transport machine fled away, leaving behind emission of black haze. I could not go any further or follow after them as the wire defense was in the way.

However, I could not stop. Kimberly was now in grave danger. David's words were about to come true: that she would become a Controller.

I could not let that happen. I had to go after them! Without thinking, I rammed my tail at the barrier to cut through.

(Ax! Stop!) Tobias shouted. (You can't go after them! Just calm down for a second.)

(But they have Kimberly-!)

(I know, Ax. But chasing after them is not going to help her.)

I became silent but every second gone by made me more restless.

(Ax, we need a plan. The faster we get the others, the sooner we can get Kimberly to safety.)

Yes, he was correct. I could not do something irrational now. Time was running short for Kimberly, now in the Yeerks' custody. I tried to ease myself and eventually, I did.

(I am sorry. I was not thinking straight.)

(Hey, I can't blame you.) Tobias let out a laugh. (Come on, let's go rescue her.)

* * *

_My head...it hurt. _

_Everything was black. How long had I been knocked out? I tried to recall what happened. I remembered a van driving right in front of me and I was pulled in. The force sent me off and my head hit on something hard and metal. The rest was blank._

_I didn't know who my captives were or what happened after that._

_I wondered if Phillip was alright, safe from those people. I really hoped that he wouldn't be caught. Hopefully, he was okay._

_There were a lot of noises around me. Groans, snarls, screams and whines. I tried to open my eyes and slowly they did. Where was I was my first thought as I got up, until my head hit something. I glanced up and spotted metal bars around me._

_A cage...I was in a cage. In a dark, gloomy and damp building. It looked like a factory for old cars._

_I wasn't alone. There were people in cages too. Men, women and children, suffering like prisoners. That was where the groans and whines came from._

_  
The snarls came from the multi-bladed raptor walking past me with a weird gun and centipede-like creatures about. The screams came from the people dragged to pools grey quivering water and their heads forced down. Then their attitude changed with a satisfied grin._

_My heart pounded. My mind raced. This wasn't happening. It wasn't true!_

_Oh god... Please... Please oh God...!_

_Somebody help me...!_

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Gaaaaaaah…! Finally, finished! Hope you'll enjoy it. And lo, oh no. What shall happen to poor Kimberly? Should I tell you if she becomes a Controller or not? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter. And what mystery is there between the black-suited human and David? Hmm? And what about Death he talked about and why he's back again? So many questions to ask, which is why you have to be patient to find out! I can't write much here cause I've spent nearly the whole night trying to finish the last part so hope you'll enjoy it now. Next ch will be coming soon so hold onto your hats, it's going to be one heck of a ride when it comes.

And the fact it's going to be narrated by Marco will make the ch more enjoyable.

Marco: What?!

Hey, since the last ch read by you, people loved it a lot. So with this ch coming up, it'll probably be twice as much from you.

Marco: Geez, how thoughtful.

Catch us on the ch. See ya next time! ;)

P.S. I've edited the other chs and checked over for mistakes. Made them a little better than before.


	10. Denial and Existence

**Chapter Nine: Denial and Existence**

_**Kimberly**_

_I was half-conscious. Barely. But just enough to see something hideous on legs crawl past me before I went out like a light again. _

_The noises woke me up later. Right there, right now, I knew I wouldn't get out of here. Whether alive, dead or changed like those people with the strange guns in their hands, I knew there was no escape for me._

_What was a girl like me to do in a situation like this? When one of your dreams comes true, only it turns out to be you in it instead of someone else, wouldn't you feel like your life's over? _

_I wondered if Fate was against me that day, denying my existence in this world. The world must hate me so much. Maybe that's why my real parents were gone, why I had these dreams and why everything was suddenly happening to me. It must be that. _

_So why did I exist?_

_A growl made me look up, watching one of those alien raptors walk past by to the cage next to me. The guy inside screamed as the raptor dragged him out and to the pools of shivering grey water. He struggled to break free and it was all in vain when his head was pushed down and he was no longer himself._

_He was a different person._

_I was afraid the worst was yet to come. I would become like him. I would become those people in my dreams._

_I would become totally different._

_I snapped. I panicked. Without thinking, I just kicked constantly at the bars, hoping they'd give way. They didn't. I screamed, grabbed the bars and shook them violently till my hands bled and I felt hot tears fall down my face with only one thought in my mind._

_I'm alone... I'm all alone..._

_

* * *

_

**Marco**

Someone pinch me. This **had** to be a dream. No, no! A _**nightmare**_! A really, REALLY bad one! I could not believe we were going through this!

It took an hour for everyone to gather at the barn and hear that Oddball Kim has been abducted. Almost everyone. Bird Boy went and followed the van that had Kimberly to an abandoned car factory where, would you believe it, the Yeerks were. He returned, telling us Kimberly was alright. Completely scared out of her wits but alright.

I expected we couldn't do anything. Kimberly was already a goner, not that I wanted her to.

...Really! I didn't want that to happen to her! But it was the truth. Even if we did something, it'd probably be too late by the time she walked the plank to a large pool of mind-infesting parasites.

It only took a couple of minutes for Jake to decide we should go rescue her.

And I was like this...

...WHAT THE HELL!?!?! HOW'D THE HECK THIS HAPPEN?!

I was the only one who thought that for once Jake was trying to be funny. Yeah, that had to be it.

Apparently, he wasn't. He was serious. I said to him give me one good reason why and what his answer was?

"Her dreams, of course."

THAT'S A GOOD REASON?!?! What's worse, everyone agreed with him?! Of course Ax for one would agree with him! E.O.K practically saved him from being caught! HELL, he was starting to be her boyfriend!

Before I could say ANYTHING, we were already on our way to the factory by 'flight mode'.

(Okay, I understand this clearly... No, I don't. Why are we saving Kimberly? And of all the people who get taken in to get their heads examined in a cruel way by Yeerks, why her? And for Pete's sake, don't give me an answer that revolves her dreams!)

(Marco, you know well enough of what I'm going to say,) said Jake, our Great O' Mighty Leader. (If she has dreams about us and the Yeerks find out they're real, it'll be a big advantage for them.)

(And it will be the end of humanity as we know it,) Rachel added. (So let's kick some alien butt and go rescue Kimberly. I have a feeling this will be as easy as pie.)

(Ah, I see. Let me recap what has happened so far. One, Kimberly has predictions about us and what we do. Two, we've just meet David as a bizarrely older guy whose bent on exterminating us and has just been seen **dead** two times by our fellow Animorphs here, which gives me the reality that we're dealing with clones,) I uttered. (And did I mention he **died TWICE!?**)

(And what's the third thing?) Rachel groaned.

(Three, there is a mysterious hot babe in a black suit that keeps on appearing out of the blues with deadly guns and wants David dead-)

(Actually, David seemed unlikely to be her main target, Marco,) said Ax lightly.

(And hopefully she won't target us too. Four! We're flying towards enemy's territory in hope we can rescue someone who has dreams about us and what we do. Great, terrific, marvelous. We're all going to die.)

(Yup, that wraps it up,) Tobias declared.

(You're not listening to me...)

(Ax, how are you doing?) Cassie asked. (You have been quiet a while ago.)

(I am fine...) he answered simply.

He was not fine. We all could tell. He was really upset earlier. Hey, who couldn't after your human girlfriend has been taken by the most vicious species any alien could hate.

(Ax, Kimberly will be alright. No, she _is_ alright. I'm sure of it.)

(...Yes, you are right.)

(Yup, we're going to die,) I continued but no one listened.

We finally arrived at the factory. It HAD to be so far away. Another ten minutes past our time and presto, change-o, we'd be struck as birds. We landed close enough to some windows on the upper level and peered in. Sure enough, Kimberly was lying in one of those cages. She was alright. Not yet being dragged away to have a slug drill into her skull and control her against her will.

(Oh...!) Cassie uttered.

(What?) I asked, awaiting an answer from her.

Until I noticed the blood on the bars and Kimberly's wounded hands. She trembled uncontrollably, her face covered in sweat and dried up tears.

What the heck did she do now?

(Alright, you know the drill?) Jake inquired.

(Morph into battle, ram through the factory and keep the Yeerks occupied till Kimberly escapes?) Rachel answered.

(Exactly.)

(Couldn't we go for plan B and forget this whole thing?) I asked.

(No! Not without Kimberly!) Ax snapped loudly. Whoa, that surprised me.

(Ax, calm down,) Jake ordered.

That was the first time Ax reacted like that. It was then he realized what he had done.

(...I am sorry.)

(It's O.K. Come on.)

We demorphed from birds and morphed into our battle animals. Me concentrating on the large strong gorilla inside of me, Jake the tiger, Cassie the wolf, Rachel the ferocious elephant, Ax into Andalite and Tobias stayed the same ole red-tailed hawk.

Rachel gave one loud braying noise of her trunk and bashed down the doors. Pretty much as you know it, chaos exploded. Animals charge in, animals attack Controllers, Controllers attack animals with Dracon Beams and sharp blades.

(Marco! Get Kimberly out!) Jake ordered.

What!? Why me?

And the answer to that was simple. I was the closest to her cage. She whined loudly in horror as I marched over. She couldn't stop quivering.

(Ah, come on. I'm not that scary.)

I grabbed the cage door and ripped it off its hinges, nearly shaking her inside. Brute strength wins today!

At first, she was too petrified to come up, which I realized why. A big vicious gorilla like me was in the way of her escape. So I backed away. Once seeing the opportunity, she dashed out of the busted cage and ran as fast as her legs could take her.

(No! Not that way!) I yelled but a bunch of Taxxons stopped me.

She kept on running until she saw the big lizards come after her. Kimberly screamed with fright and scurried away, looking back to see another Hork-Bajir's wrist blades close on her. One of them grabbed her.

ROOOAR! Jake launched himself at one and tore off his flesh.

WOOSH! Tobias swooped down and clawed at the eyes of the other who was holding Kimberly. She broke away and ran. Her life depended on it.

She spotted a metal ladder leading upwards to a 2nd-leveled corridor. Hastily, she climbed up. That would be good, considering that she'd be safe from the fights below her.

(So that is what you are after.)

Oh no. The horrid, evil voice filled my head. I was hoping we wouldn't run into him!

Straight ahead was Visser Three in his Andalite form, his four eyes fixed on Kimberly as she climbed onto the corridor.

(A mere human. Well, then. Let us see if you can keep up saving that human.)

He began to morph. Legs, ears and four eyes disappeared as the rest of his body stretched into snakelike proportion. Blue fur changed into rough spade-like scales. His many fingers melted into three sharp claws. His face deformed and elongated by inches until two mouths opened wide, filled with two rows of razor sharp teeth. Another three pairs of three-clawed arms sprouted out of his chest and extended a little longer than the first pair. The blade on his tail shrank away and the weaponless tail split into two, ending with ten deadly spikes on each.

Replacing his hearing and sight were two u-shaped nostrils, probably being very good at sensing smell.

Whatever he was, he was freaky terrifying.

And he was heading towards Kimberly.

(No! Kimberly!) Ax shouted. He started going after Visser Three but a pack of Hork-Bajir stood in his way. He fought his way through but it looked like it might be too late before anyone could save her.

Kimberly reached the second floor, panting franticly. At first, she thought she was safe from the danger downstairs but it wasn't over for her. Oh, not by a long shot.

She felt heavy breaths onto her back. One gaze at the morphed Visser and she screamed.

He sniffed heavily and lifted the two tails. He had found Kimberly.

"Oh...dear god!" Seeing the grotesque assault coming towards her, she leapt onto her feet and darted down the corridor.

KCRACK!

The corridor broke in contact with the monstrosity but Visser Three didn't get her.

"AAAAAH!" she screamed as she fell. Luckily, she caught hold of the edge wrecked corridor and struggled to pull herself up. Kimberly breathed easily, inching herself away from the edge and looked for an escape route. She needed to get out.

A growl made her gaze over her shoulder. She gasped meekly.

One large claw gripped the edge and pulled Visser Three up. With a loud thud, he landed onto the corridor, the weight nearly shaking it. Kimberly grabbed hold of the railing and held it even tightly as she saw the alien flash out glinting teeth in a grin. She was terrified that he could eat her whole.

(Andalites, if you do not want this human to lose her life, I suggest you surrender now,) Visser Three said.

"This...can't be real..." she whimpered. "You are not real...!"

Visser Three stopped.

(I am not real?) He bawled, giving a loud rumbling callous roar in his morph.

"S-Sh...!" Kimberly clenched her ears. "Shut...up!"

(You dare to silence me, puny human?) Visser Three bellowed.

"Shut up! You're not real...! This isn't real!"

Visser Three tilled his giant snake-like head, baffled in response.

(Amusing. And these Andalite bandits are after this particular human...)

Kimberly glanced round quickly but she was far too high to get down. Her eyes locked back onto the horrible alien monster before her. She froze as Visser Three began to demorph.

Watching him change horrified her. The sick cracking of ribs deafened her frightful whines as he demorphed from a huge pile of monstrosity to a shrinking but much meaner form.

"This is not real...!" Kimberly hollered, her hands on her head. "It ain't real!"

What was she doing? Didn't she have to the sense to run out of here like a chicken?

"It's a dream...It has to be! It's not real... It's not real!" She shook her head violently, not even looking that she was too close to the railing and could fall off any second.

Visser Three moved closer, his front legs having appeared out of his abdomen. The blade finally grew out from his tail, soon to be ready to cut her in halves.

She lost it.

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!!!" she screamed her heart out till she cried. "YOU'RE ALL NOT REAL!!!"

Visser Three glanced at her wordlessly, probably wondering if this human was going out of her mind.

I just didn't like that look in his eyes.

(How interesting. A human denying the reality before her... If that is what you believe,) he said. (Then let me end your suffering.)

FWAPP!

She should have moved. She should have done something, anything. Not stand around there, going crazy.

She just stood there and watched Visser Three's tail swing towards her.

CRASH!

We gazed in utter most shock, turning away from our numerous opponents. Glass went everywhere.

(How predictable humans are.) That was all Visser Three said.

Kimberly flew right out a window. And what would happen beyond there wouldn't just be the result of having broken ribs after a tail of an Andalite swayed at you but the one after falling from two floors high.

No, my guts told me she was alright. She had to be. But the picture in my head never left me. The horrible image of her bloodstained body on concrete.

She didn't deserve that.

(KIMBERLY!) Ax yelled.

A seventh Hork-Bajir stood in his way, aiming with a Dracon Beam. It didn't stand a chance as Ax suddenly sliced the reptilian alien to death and dashed off.

(Ax!) I shouted. He didn't listen and went right out of the factory through the small opened doorway we entered. I followed after him. I nearly escaped from being slashed by the blades of a Hork-Bajir.

What awaited us was something I knew Ax would be horrified. I expected that the moment we'd approach the area where Kimberly went 'splat', we would stare dreadfully at her corpse and what Ax would do, I wasn't sure. Be in grief or scream, I didn't know which would happen first.

I took a couple of breaths as I managed to catch up with Ax. He was staring in shock.

Then I became shocked too.

There stood the black-suited lady in a bold gesture. What the heck was she doing here?! And, to my disbelief, right there beside the woman...I just couldn't believe it. How in God's name did she survive?

It was Kimberly, alive.

She was alive. No blood pool, no position where the body is in a gory distorted way, no serious damage to her face. Okay, so she did have scratches from the glass and was out cold but at least she wasn't for the worse. That was good.

Did that lady save her?

I heard a mental sigh escape from Ax. He was greatly relieved but it all quickly changed. His tail whipped dangerously. I soon realized why. She not only had two guns in her hands ready to shoot holes at us but she was also looking at us with whatever merciless stare she had behind the helmet.

I was ready to bulldoze her if she'd make a move. But the lady just stood there, like she was watching in mostly fascination.

"What are you waiting for?"

A calm voice, was it coming from her?

"Did you come to rescue her?" the lady asked. "Or do absolutely nothing?"

That surprised me, even more when she walked away quietly into the building, without waiting for us to reply. As if she already knew the answer.

"I want...to go home..."

I jumped. My first thought was 'Good LORD! SHE'S GOING TO FREAK!' That was Kimberly's voice, which means she was going to see an alien and a gorilla and scream her head off!

However, her eyes were at the floor, not us. She has gone through too much to lift up her head and look around to where she had landed or care what was before her.

By the sound of her voice, she was tired.

"I wanna go home... I wanna go home..." Kimberly kept on repeating those words drearily, her voice growing softer and softer till she became unconscious.

(I understand,) said Ax.

He moved his tail slowly towards her, keeping the blade away from slicing her. It gently wrapped around her body and lifted her up, making her look so frail.

(Ax, what are you doing?)

Ax brought her carefully on him and let her head rest on his back, the tail keeping her from falling over. For a while, he had that momentous impression in his eyes.

(I am taking her 'home'.)

Man, could aliens be ridiculous with love but I had to give him credit. He got the girl I couldn't get. And he cared about her too.

(Please tell Prince Jake that I am sorry for leaving the battlefield so soon,) Ax asked. (He will be disappointed at me for doing so but I...I cannot leave her here.)

I just sighed.

(Don't worry about that, Ax-man. I'm sure the Great Leader will understand,) I told him. (Get out of here.)

(...Thank you, Marco.) With that, he took off, hurtling as far away as he could to bring the oddball to safety, to who knew where that was. Maybe to the barn.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gunshots, coming from the factory. But who had a gun? Controllers only used Dracon Beams.

I hurried inside. And what I saw made me completely shocked.

The shooter who made those noises was the black-attired lady. The guns with blue-neon lights streaming along them were ready in her hands. She had taken two Hork-Bajir down, accurately aimed for their heads.

Great, guess we're not short of one. We've got ourselves a new teammate. Yahoo!

At the sound of the firing, Visser Three locked all four eyes onto the intruder.

(You!)

At response, she turned her head and eyed at the Andalite Controller. Both guns lifted up and pointed straight at him.

At first glance, Visser Three quaked. He was uncomfortable with her sudden aim but shortly after, he calmed himself down and got off the corridor in one jump. He arched his tail.

His eyes narrowed.

(So we meet again,) said Visser Three. Frankly, he seemed to know her very well. (Black Massacre.)

Yup, he knew her.

FWAPP! His tail whipped.

And missed. In one swift move, the lady darted to the left, flinging her whole body into a cartwheel in midair. And I can't believe she evade an attack from an Andalite!

It's just like the movies, only it was happening right before my very eyes.

Both guns held up and the whole atmosphere was filled with the sounds of gunshots. Visser Three dodged them all but a couple of Taxxon bystanders were unfortunate enough to get a mouthful of bullets and ooze out grossly. Bleh...! Okay, I've officially lost my lunch.

Landing smoothly, the woman went into a quick dash, avoiding swift attacks of Visser Three's tail and a round of Dracon Beams.

(It has been quite a while since we have met,) Visser Three uttered. (Andalite _nothlit_ scum!)

She leapt, unnerved by his remark. Her neck just barely missed his tail by a fraction of a second.

(Marco! Watch out!)

(Whoa!) I hollered. Another second and I'd be Swiss cheese. Those Dracon Beams nearly got me that time. I was so fixated on the fight between Visser Three and the lady that I didn't see them point at me.

(Thanks, Tobias.)

(Don't mention it.)

Man, why did they have to start going after the gorilla? I was enjoying the show, watching that lady kick their sorry butts. If only I had popcorn, then my life would be complete.

I caught glimpses of her moves. One Taxxon wandered too close to her, expecting she wouldn't notice it from behind. So wrong was the alien creepy crawler when she suddenly was aware of its presence. One major swing of her left gun at its horrible face totally sent it crashing onto the floor with a bullet.

She held both guns at another direction and fired. This time, not to the enemy but to the cages.

(No!) Cassie yelled. (Those are people!)

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Cling! Clang! Clang! Cling! Cling! Clang! Cling!

Doors flew open. Locks were shot right out and fell onto the floor like dead flies. The prisoners inside the cages watched in bewilderment and then could taste something they have wanted for so long since their imprisonment.

They were free.

"Run!" A man shouted his heart out.

At his word, they did, scampering onto their feet and fled. Men, women and children, about twenty or so of them fled to get out of this freak show.

Visser Three didn't care about the escapees. He had only one thing on his mind and his tail fired swiftly at her.

The woman dodged to the left and fired two bullets at him. They missed.

"AHHHH!!!" A scream resounded behind me. Apparently some Hork-Bajir and two hungry Taxxons didn't want their captives to leave.

(Sorry, not today!) Rachel shouted as she and Cassie attacked the Controllers.

The last person ran out of the building, scampering as far away as possible from the nightmare. All that was left were us, the woman against Visser Three and some remaining foes.

She retreated two steps back, avoidng the Dracon Beams that just started firing a minute ago. She kept on firing back. Even if Visser Three was attacking her, her acrobatic dodging was one step ahead of them.

Me and my big fat mouth.

KCRACK!

Orange fragments took to the air. One hit by the deadly tail at the screen of her helmet but it wasn't fatal. A part of it only shattered into pieces as she skidded away by the force. One hand and pistol had covered the broken part, hiding what was inside until she brought it down and glared calmly at Visser Three.

A blue eye was all I saw. Brrr! Okay, that was enough to send shivers down my spine.

FWAPP!

She dodged quickly this time. Then she backed away, avoiding three attacks from him with Visser Three following after her. She must have already been out of bullets.

She soon became cornered, a machine the carried out car doors onto a belt converter behind her back.

(Now I have you!) Visser Three shouted once at close range, as if it was all an upcoming victory for him.

FWAPP!

TMP!

One gun was thrown into the air and an empty hand grasped the Andalite's shoulder. She had placed a foot onto the machinery and shoved herself into the air just as the bladed tail went right through it.

"Too slow."

It was far too late for him to evade the next move. Over the Visser, she delivered a powerful kick to his head. A crackling sound erupted from the smack of his cheekbone.

The first attack to land on someone we could never plant on. Man, that was incredible to see! And priceless! But it made me think she has done more than just that to him in the past.

Letting go of the shoulder, she fell back gently and landed with ease like a cat on all four. Her free hand quickly caught the gun few seconds later.

"Is that all?" she questioned, the still freezing cold serenity in her eye. "How disappointing."

(Silence!) Another whip of his tail at her but she jumped aside. In the midst of her evasion, black rectangular cartridges slid out from the handles of her guns and the guards on her thighs glowed.

A fresh set of cartridges appeared. I sure those babies were loaded. It took her no less than three seconds to reload her guns by swaying them towards the black cartridges of fresh bullets.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Another two Hork-Bajir and a Taxxon collapsed. A guy in his thirties had taken aim at her with his Dracon Beam but he was too slow. One shot at his weapon and it fell from his hands as an electric current burst out from it.

Wait a second. She only took down the aliens but not the people who were Controllers? Didn't Rachel say she killed a guy and yanked out a Yeerk from his head?

The lady shot at a couple more beams and soon the lingering human Controllers found themselves weaponless. In panic, they retreated out of the factory. It figures. Who would want to go against her?!

A Hork-Bajir Controller charged at her ferociously. The woman took a swift step back, missing the blades. She aimed the barrel to his head.

BANG!

She stopped firing. The woman put one gun away, it disappearing right from her hand into the guard, and then glanced over her shoulder.

Jake soon became aware of her gaze after taking down some Taxxons because it was directly at him. Her blue eye with its endless chilliness locked on him. I wondered if she had something to tell him.

One of her guards started to glow again. Popping out from it like some vortex to another dimension was a small device that landed into her free hand. Looked like a very narrow cylinder.

She pressed a button. Red numbers appeared.

(Ah crap! She's got a bomb,) I hollered.

Surprisingly, instead of activating it jussssst yet, she just gave a nod to him. Then click went the button again and the numbers changed rapidly as the countdown began. She then causally tossed it into a Yeerk pool.

She glanced back at him once more. It was then Jake figured it out why.

She wanted us to escape.

(Everyone! Withdraw!)

(What? I was getting to the best part!) Rachel complained.

(NOW!)

(Alright! Alright!)

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One after the other, we ran like hell. I didn't look back. Hearing the gunshots soon gave me the impression the black-suited lady was going to stay.

(No! After them!) I heard Visser Three shout.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

One glimpse over the shoulder, just one only. I did see four alien corpses fall to the ground and I did watch her speed up to the charging Visser Three. Blade met gun in a lock like swords clashed between fighting warriors. All they could do was hold each other back. A simple human against an Andalite would have been too easy a win for him but she didn't give in. She held back strongly.

(You will lose this time, Black Massacre!)

I don't know what happened with them after that but I did know it was a pretty big blast. It had to be one hell of powerful explosion coming from a tiny gizmo just as we were out of the factory.

KABOOOOOOM!!!

The building was gone in one second. Flames came up like a mushroom and followed after was thick smoke.

(OH JESUS CHRIST! FLYING BURNING DEBRIS!!! AAAAHH!!!)

I did not scream like a shrill little girl.

CRASH!

It landed not too far from me with a loud crash and tumbled away till it hit the side of some large crates. We looked back and watched the big fireworks take control of the skies. Someone would definitely spot the fire and phone for 911 and the fire department.

(Whoa,) Rachel said in awe. (That was unbelievable...)

(A bit too close, don't you think?) I asked.

Jake stopped his heavy breathing and then watched at the burning building for a quiet moment. (That woman, just who the heck is she?)

(She helped us...and saved many people from being Controllers. So doesn't that make her an ally?) said Cassie.

(Yeah...but she's gone.)

(Along with Visser Three,) Rachel said.

We continued watching the red, orange and gray scenery like captivated tourists. There was no way any person...or alien could escape that blast in time.

No normal person for that matter.

(Well, at least it's over,) Tobias uttered from above.

(I don't think so...not for those two,) I told them.

(Wait a second. You'd gloat about this. And why would you say that?) Rachel asked suspiciously.

She was right. I should be taking pride right about now. But I wasn't.

Because behind the thick blanket of smoke and embers...standing on top of a roof at the next-door building was indeed the black-suited woman.

She was untouched, as if nothing that powerful could take her down. Not even the flames could singe her suit. She gave a final glance down at us before she disappeared in a flash.

And if she got there alive, then there's no doubt Visser Three got out of there too.

* * *

_I felt warmth. So warm. I could barely open my eyes. All I saw was blue and something wrapped round me tight like arms. As if someone was holding me and taking me away from that terrible dream. I wondered, was this what heaven looks like?_

_So does that mean I was dead?_

_No._

_That was my answer. I denied that question. I really didn't believe I was dead. Maybe because...when I was being thrown out of the window, I really thought it was the end for me. I couldn't come back, never to see my family, my friends, Malcolm and Phillip._

_I felt that was the last stop of my life. The train was at the last station. But right then, I didn't want to die. I didn't want to leave so soon even if I knew it was too late to be saved._

_As I fell, a shadow swept over me. I looked up and saw an open hand coming down. Like an angel was really answering my prayers. _

_If only it __**was**__ an angel. It wasn't. Then again, I really didn't care._

_Above me, I saw the woman, the same one from the mall, her identity hidden in the helmet. She was riding on something... It looked like a huge black whale with legs or a creepy crawler under its belly. And it looked familiar. Where have I seen it?_

_She was reaching down, going to take hold of me before I hit concrete and broken glass. I knew then she was saving me. I was going to be saved._

_She grabbed my hand and spoke out in a cold but calm voice._

"_You stupid girl."_

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Ah-HA!!! Finished! Yee-HAA! Took me a while to figure out how to write this chp but I'm finished. Now if only I could get one of my chps done for my horror story... Maybe more terror to put in it.

Marco: Is there no end to your insanity?

No. Bye, bye!

Marco: Bye bye?

-Mr. Scary appears behind him-

Marco: -looks behind him- AAHHHHHH! –runs away-

Alright, next chapter will be coming up soon. See ya then. And give me LOTS of reviews cuz I'm nearing to 50 reviews! YOO-HOO!

Oh and I did a pic about my fanfic here. It's just a sketch for now and posted in DeviantArt. Go right ahead and look at the progress. PLEASE! :)

Click on pic for full view please. It somehow got small. Link: www. deviantart. com/deviation/51433006/?q=by%3Avickie-believe+in%3Ascraps&qh=sort%3Atime

Chapter based on Groove Coverage's song "Poison" and Vanilla Ninja's song "Dangerzone". Love that song! ^D^


	11. Living in Confusion

**Chapter Ten: Living in Confusion**

_**Kimberly**_

_Darkness... Everywhere and anywhere. Only when you shut your eyes close, it comes. And sure enough, my dreams could be there._

_That's what I think was happening. But this time the dreams weren't coming. Instead it was a flashback. It was the day I was found by Antinanco. Yeah, that's right. I was being carried, my head on his shoulder. And he was walking far from where he found me._

"_What is your name?"_

_His voice was serene. It was like any other grandfather...if only I could remember what mine was like, that it. I looked up, saw his grey eyes and said nothing. I tried to think of what was my name. In the end, I replied, "I don't know."_

_He glanced at me with a sort of surprised face, then looked away for a while. I became sad. Sad because I could not remember my own name, not even my parents' faces. My mind was a total blank._

"_...Citlali." That was what he said. By the time I looked up at him, he was already staring at the stars._

"_It means 'star' in Nahuatl," he explained to me._

_I didn't know what Nahuatl was back then but it didn't matter. I didn't care about that...just the name._

"_That will be your name. Citlali. Until we know what your real name is."_

"_...See...ttt...laah..."_

"_Seet-lah-lee..." he helped me._

"_...Sit-lah-lee."_

_He then smiled at me and said nothing for a while._

_

* * *

_

**Jake**

What a day this was. What a day...

It was some time after the factory-go-boom incident. We left before the place was surrounded by cops and firemen and went our separate ways: Cassie and Tobias went back to the barn, expecting Ax to be there alongside with Kimberly hopefully still unconscious and the rest of us gone home. After all, we had one heck of an ending back there.

On the way home, I couldn't stop thinking about the woman. We had an ally back there and who or what she was would remain a mystery to us. Even where she came from was unknown.

Three times she appeared and fought against the Yeerks. That meant she knew about the war. Had she been fighting them way before we met Eflangor and were given our morphing power? It looked like that. And was she really an Andalite **and** a _nothlit_? That was what Visser Three called her. But somehow, I believe she wasn't one. Her stare was almost...human. Almost...

And just what was her link to David AND Kimberly?

That's it. I was getting a headache. I couldn't wait to get back to my house, maybe have a slice of pizza, and watch tonight's B-rated movie. If it was good, that is.

Maybe it was either the Ellimist or Crayak playing with us again. Yeah, that had to be it. Or else, I've got nothing to explain all that has happened and probably I had gone crazy.

"Hi, honey. How was your day?" my mother cried out from the kitchen as I walked into the house.

How was my day? Mom, my friends and I went to a car factory, which was in fact another hideout for the Yeerks, in order to rescue a girl who dreams were about our secretive battles, and were accompanied by a black-suited woman who disappeared after a big explosion that could have wipe us out in a blink of an eye. Yep, that was how my day was.

"Terrific," I said, grabbed a soda from the fridge and walked to the living room.

There, slouched on the couch and watching the news was Tom. My brother.

A Controller among my family.

"Hey, Jake," Tom...no...the Yeerk greeted.

"Hey," I said, trying to keep my cool as much as possible.

It made me sick to the gut to think that there was one in my living room, taking control of Tom. I tried to ignore that fact and stared straight at the TV screen.

One of these days, I'll rescue my brother. Yeah. One of these days...

"Today, Technica & Co. Automobile Factory was destroyed this afternoon at four thirty-five pm," the newswoman exclaimed. How fast news could get. "It is unclear how the building caught on fire. However, experts say it could have been a gas leak and damaged circuits to be the cause of the fire."

As if.

"Firefighters have already brought down the fire. There were no unfortunate causalities in the event-"

That was good and bad to hear at the same time. That meant the woman was alive, which is the good news. That also meant Visser Three was alive, which is the bad news. He was out there, continuing this war.

I heaved a sigh. I thought we could have a short break from all this.

"-witnesses believed that it was an ongoing movie performing in the mall when there have been no reports of any filming industry doing motion picture here-"

I didn't listen to what she said before but I gazed up to see a picture of the mall, where the fight between David and the black-suited woman took place.

"-none of the men were seriously injured in the attempt of arresting-"

What?

"-one security cop who supposedly was shot by the assailant is now hospitalized. Miraculously, he has no wounds from the incident this morning."

"Pssssbbt!"

"Eeew! Yuk! What the heck did you do that for?!"

I coughed loudly and looked down to see Tom wet and soaked in soda.

"Sorry. Got caught in my throat," I groaned and gave out another choke.

He stared at me for a second. "Just keep it to yourself next time."

He bought it. Phew.

But, oh man. That guy was alive? The mall cop that had a bullet to his head was alive? No way. It was right at him! How could he have dodged it?

"Now, is it true he has no recollections of the incident?"

"Yes," another voice spoke, sounded hazy. A small frame of a tall man holding his microphone in front of a hospital was there in the right corner of the TV. "He has no memory of this morning's unexplained encounter. Doctors say although he suffered minor injuries, he seems to have selective amnesia after having a concussion from one of the attackers."

The news changed to a scene inside a hospital room where the mall cop was. THE mall cop, lying on a hospital bed and wearing a patient's garment. His head was bandaged up.

I nearly dropped my drink. I couldn't believe my eyes. He **was** alive. Breathing and kicking.

"I have no idea what happened this morning," the mall cop said, sounding surprised. "I was shocked when they told me I had a gun right to my temple! Hah!"

He was laughing as if he had just laughed straight at the face of Death.

"It must have been shocking to in a situation like that."

"I think she just missed. Other than that, all I can think of it was a miracle. I'm just glad I'm still alive."

It wasn't a miss. It should have been a direct hit. I saw it. Hundreds of people saw it!

I raced for the phone. The others needed to know this. That woman in the black suit didn't kill that mall cop. She didn't kill him at all!

I stopped. I was going to do a terrible mistake if I hadn't.

I looked back. Tom's attention was still to the TV.

The Yeerks knew the woman and gave her a name, the "Black Massacre". She must have done something serious to them to be entitled with an unforgettable name. So if I say anything about her, one word that could relate to her, Tom might figure it out. One false move and it would be over.

I calmed myself down.

"Ah! Darnit!" I said, faking my disappointment. "Mom, I'm going out!"

"Now where are you off to?" my mother asked, getting out of the kitchen as she wiped her hands clean with a towel.

"I forgot to get a book from Marco," I said my excuse. "School work."

"Alright. Be back by seven."

An hour and a half. Plenty of time...I think.

I ran as fast as I could. I had to tell someone about this. Couldn't to Rachel because she had to go with her family at a Chinese restaurant and no good to Marco because for one thing, he'd say he wouldn't want to do ANYTHING about Yeerks or the black-suited woman or Kimberly. He'd want to sleep on it.

Tobias and Ax would do. After all, they saw the whole event.

A flapping noise caught my attention before I was heading to the construction site to morph to peregrine falcon, where no one could see...well, you know, the horrible stuff we would halfway morph into. I looked and found a poster struck onto a wall with sticky tape.

I yanked it off and one examine took me I was staring at Kimberly's photo.

I gazed up and sure enough there were more down the street.

I never realized how many 'missing person' flyers there were about Kimberly. So many were on every tree and wall and street lamp and given to a few passer-bys.

Unfortunately, one of those passer-bys crushed the flyer up and threw it into a bin. I watched him shrug his shoulders and walk away. I peered into the bin and there it was, beside a wasted milkshake and a half-eaten sandwich.

I picked it up and opened it, spreading out its crumbled edges and wiping away the stains. On the paper, just like the one Rachel and I picked up from the top of a pile of fresh new flyers near a printer, was the printed photo of Kimberly.

So much trouble on one girl. Worse, she was involved because of the dreams...and Ax...and everything else.

Maybe, just maybe, if she didn't have these dreams, none of this would happen. Then again, we probably wouldn't have seen that woman.

I've only met Kimberly twice. First time was that she called for History homework when she fell sick one day. Second time was four weeks ago. She came up to me with her beaming smile and said hi.

"You're Marco's friend, right?" she asked. "Is he taken by anyone for the dance?"

I was surprised when she asked that question. You know Marco. He had a hard time catching girls than getting to Hollywood and winning the Oscar award. I wondered if she wanted to go out with him so I told her, "No, not really."

"That's good to hear." She smiled even widely and then whispered something. I faintly heard, "She'll be totally happy."

"Excuse me?" I said with one eyebrow up.

"No reason. Thanks." The school bell rang and Kimberly went off. That was the last I saw her.

Until only recently.

Not too far from where I had stopped, I noticed where the flyers were coming from. On the other side of the street, a boy persisted to give a flyer to a passing old woman. He failed to give the flyer in his hand so he had no choice but to leave the street to find more people.

I couldn't see his face but I guess he was younger than me, twelve years old by the looks of it. He had red hair and was slightly average built. I began to wonder. Was he the foster brother?

What was the name again? Brad? Blake? No, wait. His name is Baxter. Yeah, that's it. He's in Geography class with me but he keeps to himself most of the time.

I didn't know he and Kimberly were siblings before. Not blood related anyway. I only found out that when we were at their house investigating. One look at a family photo and there he was smirking, squeezed tight to his adopted sister, his dad beside them in his wheelchair and his mom above them with arms wrapped round them. His hair color was no doubt inherited by his dad.

You'd know something was off with the picture. It would be Kimberly who stood out because her parents' hair was brown-black and red with amber and hazel eyes.

It wasn't long till I morphed in the construction site and reached the barn in record timing but when I got there and looked for Cassie, she was nowhere to be found. Not even Ax or Kimberly perhaps lying in one of the stalls.

"Where the heck did they go?" I muttered.

FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!

Tobias flew into the barn and landed on the table where animal medicine was. On there were an emergency kit open and Tobias picked up a roll of bandages in his beak.

He spotted me and nearly hopped with fright.

(Jake. Didn't notice you were here,) he said.

"Where's everyone?" I asked. "I thought Ax would be here with Kimberly."

(Uh, well, that's funny story. You see... Ax didn't come back to the barn.)

I raised an eyebrow. "Did he bring Kimberly to the scoop? With Cassie?"

(Not the scoop. But yeah, Cassie's with him.)

"Where are they, Tobias?" I demanded calmly.

(Well, um, Ax told us that he brought her 'home'.)

Me eyes shot wide open. "He brought her back to her house?!"

(No, not really.)

Okay, this was getting giving me a bigger headache. Literally. "Then where are they?"

(Morph and I'll show you.)

I grumbled. This day couldn't get any better, now could it?

We took off, Tobias leading the way towards the woods. It wasn't long till we reached the destination, a few miles from Cassie's barn. With the falcon's good eyes, I soon sighted something blue below us. We landed nearby and I demorphed.

I pushed aside some branches of bushes and came across the site. In the centre of it was a burnt out campfire. Cassie sat down on the ground, tending to Kimberly's injuries with Ax on the watch.

(Prince Jake.)

"Oh. Hey, Jake," she said and snipped off a piece of clean cotton bandage from its roll.

Kimberly laid on a sleeping bag, still unconscious but in a peaceful sleep. Her left hand was wrapped in bandages while her right hand a brutal wound. A small cut was on her face but was covered by a band-aid. A second one was on her forehead, hidden by her hair.

Besides Cassie was a clean towel. On top were bloodstained medical tools, damp wipes and pieces of rust and glass.

My stomach turned. To imagine extracting those out of her hands and skin had to be painful to anyone, including for Cassie having to take them out one by one with tweezers. And I think even more to Ax, his expression from his four eyes being troubled as ever. But Kimberly, being out cold and all, wouldn't feel a thing and Cassie took it as easy as she could be.

Cassie sighed as she wrapped the other hand.

"I was so shocked when she flew out that window. Thank goodness she doesn't have any severe injuries," she said. "But...it could have been worse."

What could be worse than falling from a building? It could have been worse if Visser Three decided to devour her. It could have been worse if she was in any other situation.

But it didn't matter. Now she was alright. And after that, there may be more problems.

When she wakes up, I didn't know what to expect to happen. She would probably find out about us and have to join us. Like another David. Another who could turn her back on us.

No, I shouldn't think like that. Kimberly was different, compared to David.

Or would she be like David?

(Prince Jake.)

I turned to Ax.

(I am sorry for disobeying an order from you...) he apologized. (And for leaving the fight so soon...)

He glanced down at Kimberly, worried but tried to keep it in.

Three days with Kimberly and already he was protecting her.

"It's alright. You had to do what was right. Anyone of us would have done the same."

His eyes smiled. (Thank you, Prince Jake.)

"And Ax?"

(Yes, Prince Jake?)

"Please stop calling me Prince."

(Yes, Prince Jake.)

I sighed and smiled at the same time but quickly remembered why I was here.

"I've got some news. Really weird news... The mall cop from this morning? He's alive."

(No way! That's impossible!) Tobias yelled from the treetops.

Ax's four eyes were wide with astonishment. Cassie looked nervous, only having heard about the fight and could imagine how it all went.

But to hear a guy was alive after being shot at in the head was unbelievable.

(It can't be,) gasped Ax.

"...Is this the cop you told me? The one that woman shot?"

"Yeah," I said. "It's in the news. He's in a hospital resting. What's more..."

The memory of watching the gun drive to the cop's head was still imprinted into my head: she pulling the trigger and the cop dropping limply after a loud bang.

"No wound. He has no wound. The doctors just assumed it was a concussion."

They grew even more shocked. It's a fact. A knife leaves a cut. A gun leaves a bullet hole. Any weapon leaves a wound. That's the logic. She didn't give him a concussion. Not even a smack with the handle of her gun or hit him on the head with a fist.

She shot him. That was it.

It made no sense that after being shot, he had no bullet hole. Then again, nothing recently made sense.

(Wait,) Ax started. (Her weapons. It has something to do with them. The reason why this human did not die.)

(Ax, we just saw a man get killed and later we hear that he has come back to life. You, me, Jake, Rachel and Marco saw it,) said Tobias.

(Yes, but did she not try to take something out of the human after the assault?)

Yeah, she did try to take something after the shooting. Gray, slimy and didn't last long when she squashed it in her grasp.

There was no mistake.

"Yeerk..." I said. That was a Yeerk she pulled right out of the cop. "So...does that mean those guns of her can take out Yeerks without hurting people?"

(Then...they could save everyone. Stop everyone from being Controllers!) Tobias cried out.

"And the war will be over!" Cassie shouted.

Ax closed his eyes. His expression disagreed with Cassie.

"What's wrong, Ax?"

(If that is the case, then the human should have attack the human Controllers back when we were rescuing Kimberly. She did not.)

"That's right... She only freed the people from being Controllers."

(However, those weapons are remarkable. Like you said, Tobias, they could save many from being Controllers. To think she carries extraordinary weapons.)

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

(Do you remember the weapons she had variously changed into another? It was after she assaulted the human in authority.)

(Yeah. I remember. They turned into something different. Two different types if I recalled.)

"Rachel told me that one of her gun also turned into a dagger while she was fighting David," Cassie added.

Ax nodded. (I believe her weapons have similar morphing powers as that given to you by my brother.)

That was surprising. A weapon that could morph.

(You mean that was morphing her guns were doing?) Tobias uttered.

(Actually, using the term morphing is a bit too much for mechanisms. But yes. She can change them into other weapons at her command. It surprised me that she possesses a changeable tool when some Andalites have tried and failed to create.)

"You mean Andalites were making something like that?" I asked.

(Yes. Several Andalites were on a project of making a weapon that can modify itself into another after the development of the _Escafil Device_. It was to be called the _Usaslic Device_ in name of their late head scientist. Using the _Escafil Device_ meant giving morphing power to any organism to acquire biological DNA. The project is similar to the functions of the _Escafil Device_ except it was to duplicate blueprints of other artillery. It would have been an effective one against the Yeerks. However, the project was put away after many errors.)

"And yet, that woman has those arms," Cassie said.

"Non-living things morph into other non-living things," I uttered. "But then how could she have gotten those guns if they haven't been made?"

(I don't know... All I can say is they are one of a kind.) He gave a sigh. (Since she approached, there are many questions about her identity, her actions and her equipment.)

(Makes you wonder if she'll pop up again,) said Tobias.

Everyone stopped talking. After all, the black-suited woman wasn't gone. Marco saw her after the explosion in the factory.

No doubt she would appear again. Maybe with David. Maybe when the Yeerks are around. Maybe alone, hopefully coming to give us some answers.

"Jake, what's going on?" Cassie asked, breaking the silence.

Yeah, that was a good question. What the heck was going on and what was going to happen next? David's reappearance, the black-suited woman's sudden arrival and ruthless attacks on the Yeerks, the dreams that could foresee our actions...

And it all connected to Kimberly.

I looked at Cassie with an honest face. Then from a serious one to a confusing one. It ended with the words any person would normally hate to say.

"I don't know," I told her. "I absolutely don't know..."

* * *

"_What's your name, mister?" _

_I asked that question to break the silence. I didn't like everything to be so quiet. I didn't like it at all. It made me afraid. It made me think that something would come and take him away._

_He looked at me with no expression._

"_And why would you want to know my name?" he asked curiously. "I'm but a simple old man. A stranger you've just met."_

"_I wanna know," I said innocently._

_He paused for a minute. "Antinanco... My name is Antinanco."_

"_An...tin...na-na...na..." It was so long that my tongue got twisted but Antinanco helped me._

"_An-tee-nawn-ko."_

"_An-teeee...nawn-ko."_

_He smiled again. I gazed up to the black sky. Up there, the stars sparkled bright, piercing the dark like as if they were guardian angels to me. They gave me a calming feeling and with that, I shut my eyes and slept peacefully._

_All my worries about my forgotten past went away in an instance._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Booyah! Finished Chp. 10~! XP Been hooked up playing Rule of Rose that I got so freaked I went to finish the rest of this chapter... Scary game and yet inspired me to write my own twisted horror story. *grins evilly* Through I've got two things that's slowing me down in writing it. One, the plot needs more working on and two, I'm still trying to finish other stories…namely my Applecreek series... 0xo

And because I didn't do any Marco-torturing in one chp, I like to present some in this one.

Marco: Oh yeah? Just try it! I'm ready for that bear this time! –holds steel pipe as if he's in killing zombie game-

Sorry, but the bear can't be here this time. He's away on movie business.

Marco: What?! Then who am I at? Ah! Doesn't matter! I'll whack it till it can't breath! –spoke too soon as shadow looms over him-

-giant Nudibranch-like (sea slug) creature with many insect legs and teeth crawls up to him and looks down, slobber drops from its mouth-

Marco: ...Oh crud...

Till next time. We shall see if Marco can survive till the next chp. :P


	12. Don't Leave

**Chapter Eleven: Don't Leave**

_Kimberly_

_I woke up with the strong light hurting my eyes and I lifted one arm to shield them. Once my eyes adjusted, I gazed up to see sunshine streaming through green leaves. Bird songs were everywhere, filling my ears. _

_Nature was talking to me, promising me I was safe. Everything was alright._

_I had hoped I'd wake up in my bedroom. But it was okay. Waking up to see treetops and the sky above me was good enough. The sounds around me and the ongoing breeze, it made things peaceful for me._

_I slowly sat up and found myself in my campsite, not on Antinanco's back. Not eight years ago. It was all but a flashback in a dream._

_How I wish I was with Antinanco again. To see Nature with him, to listen to his stories about his people and advice about the wilderness...to feel safe with him..._

_But what about the monsters, the animals and the people in cages? Was that just a dream too? Maybe...if I had a dream of my past with Antinanco, then that was it too. That had to be it. I had another dream of animals fighting monsters again._

_A recurring pain was in my hands. Why? I looked down and saw the bandages that weren't there before. I soon became in terrible shock._

_I remembered I was kidnapped. I remembered I was in a cage before those animals appeared and starting fighting those monsters. I remembered one of the monsters went after me and threw me out of the window with his tail._

_I remembered everything. _

_It wasn't a dream. It was real._

_The pain was proof._

_

* * *

_

**Cassie**

It was the next morning. Luckily, there was no school that day because the roads were closed up so I didn't have to worry about it that day. Instead, I had spent the night worrying if Kimberly was going to be alright.

I cleaned up everything and disposed the broken glass, rust and blood-soaked towels so my parents wouldn't find out. I tried to act causal so they wouldn't get suspicious and later went to check on Kimberly's dog, Malcolm before I hit the hay.

Malcolm knew something was wrong. He hadn't seen his master for a long time and kept scratching the barn door.

I wondered if Kimberly would be alright. Was she going to be traumatized after the incident in the factory when she'd wake up? Or pretend it never happened? And would we have to make her part of the group because her dreams could become either a means of fighting the Yeerks or a danger to us?

Which was going to come first?

I got up early, had breakfast and said I was going out for a walk.

Kimberly would probably be awake at this time. I wanted to be sure she was okay and the wounds weren't bleeding. There was no way I could approach her, say hi and check her bandages. I'd just have to see if she was fine from a distance. Maybe I should morph into a bird...

"Cassie?"

I jumped. I looked over my shoulder and calmed down. It was Ax.

...As a human in clothes?

"Ax, what are you doing here? And why...have you morphed human?" I asked.

(We should say the same for you. Where are you heading this time of the morning?)

I looked up. Tobias perched on a branch above us.

"I want to see Kimberly. Kim-ber-lee..." said Ax.

"Oh." So that's why he morphed. "But Ax, maybe you shouldn't go."

Ax looked at me as if I had just taken away his Cinnamon buns. That was a surprise. And it made me a little guilty.

"Ax, it's nothing personal. Just that maybe it might not be a good idea."

"I do not care. Ca-rr-ee. I want to see if she is all right."

(Cassie, there's no stopping him so you might as well let him tag alone.)

I sighed. Tobias was right. I couldn't stop him even if I wanted to.

"Fine, but stay out of sight," I said. "Okay?"

He nodded. So we went off to Kimberly's campsite and hid.

At the campsite, Kimberly was on her knees as she was searching through her bag, her back to us. I couldn't see her bandages until she pulled out what she was looking for, a clean blue shirt. Good, her hands looked okay but in need of some clean ones.

Kimberly pulled the collar of a yellow-cream shirt underneath her jacket to her nose and sniffed it. She then flung the clean shirt onto a bush and grasped her jacket off. It was then I realized something.

A girl with clothes, and two guys...

"Get down!" I yelled softly, shoving Ax down. Maybe a little too hard because he hit his face on the ground. "Sorry, Ax."

"Ouch...!"

I wasn't sure if Kimberly heard us. But a few minutes of silence passed by, declaring that she just continued on to change tops.

"Tobias!" I hissed quietly. "Look away!"

(I'm not looking. I didn't see anything. Nothing happened. No sire.)

I glanced up to where he perched. Sure enough, Tobias had turned his back the moment Kimberly started changing.

"Cassie, why did you push my head to the ground? Grr-ounn-d. That hurt my face. Fa-sss."

(Do not tell anyone about this, Cassie. And that goes for you too, Ax,) Tobias groaned.

I looked over the bushes. Kimberly finished changing and wore back her jacket. Kimberly gazed up to the sky. It was for a while.

Then she looked back at her fireplace and began throwing away the rocks that were circling around the soot and burnt wood. Once that was done, she covered the soot with dirt and patted to make it flat.

"Cassie, is she all right?" Ax asked. "Allll-riig-th."

"Yeah, she's going to be fine. I wonder if she's found out about the bandages."

"I don't believe she is doing well. Weellll."

"Why do you say that?"

"She isn't smiling."

I was shocked when he said that. Even more surprised when I realized Kimberly was really not smiling. She looked depressed. Did that mean she remembered what happened to her?

Then out of the blues, Ax stood up and walked out of the bushes.

"Ax!" I cried out quietly. I didn't want to blow my cover so I stayed put. I bit my lip hard, hoping Ax knew what he was doing.

"Kimberly?" Ax called.

She looked over her shoulder in response. She was surprised at first but grinned cheerfully.

"Phillip, you're alright," she said and put her hands in her pockets. She was hiding the bandages. "Thank goodness. I thought that horrible woman got you. I'm glad she didn't."

"Are you leaving?"

Kimberly's eyes went wide for a second. He asked a question out of the blue that caught her off guard. She quickly hid her shock with another smile. "Now why do you say that?"

He gazed at her backpack, to the soot-covered ground and finally to Kimberly.

"Your home...it's as if you are clearing it away. And your companion, Malcolm, he is not here. Mel-ko-mm."

He saw right through her. She sighed.

"Guess I can't lie to ya. Yeah, I'm leaving this place." She wheeled to her campsite. "It's about time I should get going. If I stay here, I'll get too attached to this place."

"But your companion-"

"It's okay. He's at a friend's place," said Kimberly. "It'd be better this way. He'd want a good comfy place with all-you-can-eat, not on the streets, filthy and chasing birds and cats."

She scratched her nose lightly. "He's a good dog. He's been with me through thick and thin. It's the least I can do for him. Have him stay with a classmate of mine is the right thing. I'd miss him but it's for better. Otherwise, I'd worry a lot if he comes with me."

I saw a side she had. She was a dog person, loved Malcolm so much that I knew it hurt her so much that she was leaving him behind in my care.

"Please don't," Ax pleaded, no more playing with his words. "Don't go."

Kimberly said nothing at first and then tried to assure him with another smile. "It's alright. I'm gonna come back. Maybe not tomorrow, not next month but I'll come back. Okay?"

Ax didn't believe her but she kept on smiling. It didn't matter to her if he didn't believe her. However, the fact was it might be longer than a month before she decides to turn back. It would probably be a year until she returns.

She might even decide to never come back.

"I need to go far away…to clear my head. Once I get that done, I'll come back. And you'll be the first one to meet. I promise."

Kimberly wheeled away but unexpectedly, Ax grabbed her hand.

"It's because of those dreams, isn't it?" he asked demandingly.

She faced him, stunned to hear that from him. He brought up the reason for her runaway.

"You don't have to run away," Ax uttered.

"My hand... Phillip, you're hurting me."

"They are only dreams. That's what you have always called them. Then that is what they are. They are just dreams."

"Phillip," Kimberly called. She tried to ignore the pain and looked at him with meaning.

"Please don't go. Please. I...I want to help you. I can find their meanings. And I know who else can help. So please-"

"Phillip..." she started. She was still smiling but had a light sadness in her eyes. That quickly changed as she grinned broadly. "You're so sweet, you know that?"

Ax stared at her, awestruck and concerned at the same time. Seeing her wide smile, he knew he couldn't press on. Whatever he would say, it wouldn't stop her from going, even if he tried. Ax wanted to say something. He wished he said something. But he had nothing to say.

With that, he left go of her hand and stared down with regret.

"...Can you do me a favor?" Kimberly asked suddenly. "Just one favor? That's all I ask for."

"...Yes... Of course. O-ff...course..."

She smiled again, walked closer to him and...

...threw her arms round him.

Ax was taken by surprise. Tobias and I were too. Ax has never been hugged by anyone, not even know what a hug is.

He blushed. He didn't know how to react but somehow, feeling her arms behind his back, Ax slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around her. He wasn't very sure if that was the right thing to do.

Kimberly didn't care. She just wanted one in return, especially from Ax.

"Thank you..." she whispered in his ear. "For everything..."

Minutes went by. Finally, Kimberly let go. They gazed at each other, Kimberly still smiling and Ax still wondering what to do. She backed away and approached to her bag. Kimberly picked it up, flung it over her back and glanced back at Ax.

She smiled again. It would be the final smile he'd ever see. Ax knew it.

"Bye, Phillip."

Kimberly turned and walked away.

Ax was devastated. He took a step forward, reaching his hand out but halted. I knew he wanted her to stop. He wanted to call her name and help her with her problems. Ax wanted to do something.

But there was nothing he could do. I was sure that was what he was thinking. Ax's glance locked on Kimberly as she disappeared behind the bushes, then moved to the ground.

(Ax?) Tobias called.

Ax didn't look up. This was the second time I have ever seen Ax disheartened. The first time was hearing the death of his brother, Elfangor.

"Ax?" I called.

Finally, he spoke.

"I want to help her... I don't want her to be sad anymore but...I don't know what to do... I don't know what... Cassie, I don't feel right... I don't like it... I feel...terrible."

He didn't move. He just stared down. The feeling inside of him was choking him.

Poor Ax. He met a girl he really liked, even though they have their differences. And now she was leaving forever.

Ax was never going to see her again.

I bolted up and started to run to Kimberly's direction. She couldn't leave. Not when Ax was like this. Not when Ax really liked her. It didn't matter to me that Kimberly could become like us or worse, a Controller.

So I decided to stop her from running away.

(Cassie-) I didn't stop to listen to what Tobias had to say. I just ran.

Until I realized I lost Kimberly. Where did she go? She couldn't have gone far. But I had never been in this part of the woods before. I'd got to act or else I'd lose her

What I needed was an animal. A wolf.

I concentrated on my wolf morph. I felt fur grow over my skin and my teeth getting sharper. Crackling noises came from my bones reshaping. I fell on all four as my tailbone grew longer and my nose stretched.

I was a teenager a few seconds ago. Now I was a wolf. Ready to hunt for prey-no, no, I had to find Kimberly.

I sniffed the ground, got her scent and followed it. It didn't take me long to catch up with her.

Kimberly was running. Running as fast as her legs could possibly take her. She ran without looking back, grounding her teeth hard. She didn't stop to take a breath.

Teardrops ran down her cheeks. Kimberly was crying.

Some time later, she was out of breath and stopped. She almost tumbled to the ground but arched her back down and rested her hands on her knees.

"Antinanco... I wish you were here," Kimberly uttered.

Who was that? A friend?

She wiped her face with her sleeve. "You told me to live my life...but I can't even do that." She smiled feebly. "If I leave, everyone will be unhappy...but if I stay, everyone will get hurt..."

Kimberly glanced up to the sky, begging for something, anything, to happen.

"Antinanco... What should I do? I...I don't want to leave."

She burst into tears and fell onto her knees.

"But I don't want anyone to die from these dreams either!"

Die?

She wept, burying her face in her hands.

Now I began to understand why she ran away. I understood why Ax believed they meant something more than just dreams. Maybe they really did mean a lot more than they seemed.

And they were taking their toll on her.

I wondered if they were like the dreams Tobias and I had about Ax before we first met him. Only much more frightening than ours.

A sound in the bushes was heard in a distance. And this scent...

Kimberly heard the sounds. She looked at the source. Her eyes slowly grew wide with horror.

Because hurtling her way was a Hork-Bajir with those wrist-blades aiming for her.

(A Hork-Bajir!?) Did they find out about her dreams?

It was charging towards her. But by sheer luck, Kimberly tripped and fell. The only thing the blades cut was her bag that dropped off.

Oh my gosh, Kimberly was going to be killed!

The Hork-Bajir towered over her and rose up a foot. Kimberly rolled to her left, missing the stomp that could have crushed her. She scrambled onto her feet as a fierce bite from the Hork-Bajir missed her shoulder.

I've got to save her. Without thinking, I charged in, letting the instinct of the wolf take over.

An enemy was in my territory...

I launched and bit on his throat.

The Hork-Bajir gave a shrill cry and tried to shake me off but I held on. By now, she'd run away again.

FWAPP!

The Hork-Bajir suddenly felt light. That was because his head was sliced off and the body plummeted. I glanced up and right there was Ax as Andalite.

(What is a Hork-Bajir doing here?)

(I don't know...but I think they're after Kimberly!) I said. His four eyes were filled with shock when I told him.

(Guys! I see more Hork-Bajir in the woods,) Tobias cried from above. (About six of them!)

(Kimberly, where is she?!) Ax demanded.

I glanced round quickly. Kimberly was long gone when I attacked the Hork-Bajir. Only her bag was left behind. I sniffed it, then the ground. At once, I found her scent again.

(That way!) I shouted.

Ax took off like lightning. I darted after him as quick as I could. It was as if all the determination he had was keeping him going.

(Oh no! She's heading towards a Hork-Bajir!) Tobias yelled.

That was it. Ax galloped even faster and vanished beyond the trees. I heard Kimberly's scream close by.

We were too late!

FWAPP! THUD!

I just jumped out of the bushes and I found a beheaded raptor drop before me. Ax was metres away from the bloody corpse, almost wheezing deeply from his mad dash.

Kimberly was on the ground, looking at Ax as she breathed heavily. She was alright but instead of yelling with fright like anybody would at a sight of an alien, she stared at Ax in absolute awe.

Seconds passed. She finally got up, never taking her eyes off Ax. Then she began walking towards him.

Ax backed away, worried. Seeing that, Kimberly stopped but slowly lifted a hand as if wanting to touch him. She kept it a level though.

It was then Ax, Tobias and I knew that she wasn't scared of an Andalite.

She wasn't afraid of Ax.

Kimberly spoke. "...You're...from my dre-"

(Ax! Watch out!) Tobias hollered.

The third Hork-Bajir came out of nowhere and slashed at Ax's torso with its wrist-blades. Blood gushed.

(AX!)

He stumbled back, not before his tail whished at the Hork-Bajir.

FWAPP!

The Hork-Bajir dropped dead.

(Ax! Are you alright?!) I yelled.

(Yes...Yes, I am fine,) he replied weakly and placed a hand on the wound.

Kimberly's face drenched with fear. The moment the Hork-Bajir appeared and attacked Ax, she was terrified. I could see it in her eyes. She trembled, wondering what to do.

(Run...)

Kimberly jumped. She heard the thought-speak. She gasped when she saw the four eyes glancing at her in pain.

Running was a very good idea in this situation but her legs were frozen.

(Run...! Run!)

She jerked, like she was snapped out of a trance. She turned tail and dashed, and then she was gone.

Ax heaved a sigh of relief.

(Be somewhere safe...) he whispered. His two eye stalks gazed up with a gentle smile. (Tobias, you have to keep watch on Kimberly.)

(Ax, you know you don't have to ask me that. But, are you okay?)

(I am fine. It's a small cut, nothing serious.)

Tobias was reluctant to go. But Ax was right. The Yeerks were after Kimberly and she needed all the protection she could have.

(Alright. I'll try and lead her to a safe place.)

Tobias flew off, up the treetops. Ax sighed deeply but groaned painfully.

(There are three more still out there, am I right, Cassie?) he asked.

(Yeah, Tobias said six were here.)

(Then, please, get the others. I'll stay and fight them.)

(You can't fight in your condition! Not even against three Hork-Bajir! We can fight them toget-)

(No, we need reinforcement. If there are Hork-Bajir, there are bound to be Yeerks nearby. One of us should find Prince Jake. Beside, I have a reason why I should stay.)

(Ax-)

(Kimberly...saved me from being capture by the Yeerks yesterday. Although she knew nothing about the invasion, she grabbed my hand and we ran from those Controllers.) Ax looked down at his bloodstained fingers. (Now I must return the favor to her. It would be a dishonorable thing to do if I did not. So Cassie, I shall stay and battle.)

Now it was my turn to leave. I didn't want to leave him behind, alone to fight the Yeerks but he looked at me with meaning.

Ax wanted to protect Kimberly.

(Are you sure you can fight them?) I asked warily.

One eye stalk looked down at his open wound. The other three eyes gazed at me to reassure.

(I can heal if I morph. So I'll be fine.)

I could not help but worry. I hoped deeply he would be okay because he would need all the strength he had.

(I'll hurry back with everyone!) I shouted and raced off to get the others.

Some distance away beside me, I could see two green creatures hurtle towards Ax as I hurried. No doubt they were the other Yeerk-infested Hork-Bajir, spotting an Andalite in the middle of the forest. Behind me, I heard Ax holler loudly.

(I will not allow you to take Kimberly away again!)

* * *

_I've been running so much these few days. But that's good, right? Least I'll be a bit healthier with all this exercise._

_Who am I kidding? Everyone or myself? I wasn't running to be fit. I was running in sheer terror._

_I ran away from home, I ran to save Phillip and me from letting that dream come true, I ran from being eaten alive from a giant snake and I ran because a blue centaur from my dream told me so._

_I ran away from those dreams._

_My dreams. My stupid dreams. They're the ones that got me in these situations. I wished I never had them! I'd probably be a normal girl. But then...if I was, I'd never see that centaur for real. _

_And he was fighting those raptors...to save me._

_I stopped myself from running and looked back. _

_My fear was gone but now I was worried._

_Would he be alright? Were there more of those raptors running amuck in these woods? Could he fight them on his own? He'd need help, wouldn't he? So where were those animals I always saw in my dreams? Where were they? Why weren't they coming to help him like always?! _

_Was it because he was alone?_

_Then it hit me. Alone. That word made me remember a dream some time ago. The dream was about me sitting down at the beach. That was around the time after the animals first appeared in my dreams. Yeah, that was it._

_That's right. It was the only dream I found so peaceful and so confusing at the same time._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: FIN! I have yet again finished another chp! Chapter inspired by Seeter and Evanescence's song, Broken and other sad songs that moved me as I wrote this. :P Mostly love-breaking songs. And Hork-Bajir approaching scenes by Evanescence's Farther Away. I hope you all like this chp and give lots of review. Enjoy!

It's pretty late now so I can't give much of Marco-torturing right now. :P

Marco: WHAT?! I'm in the middle of a slimy fight here if you haven't noticed! -Sticks steel pipe between jaws of giant Nudibranch-like (sea slug) creature and runs cowardly away-

Well, that's all folks. See ya next chp!

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs but I do and officially own Kimberly, the black suited human and Kimberly's family.


	13. Calling

**Chapter Twelve: Calling**

_Kimberly_

_It started off like any other dream I had. Dull, gloomy, with nothing everywhere. I would always be wandering round endlessly till the nothingness disappeared. When it did, I saw a beach and I sat down on the seashore. _

_I was alone there or so I thought when he trotted along the beach._

_I was used to seeing weird things in my dreams. So seeing a second blue centaur appear made no difference. The first was right when the monsters and the animals appeared._

_(I'm here. I am -bzzzt-) A distorted voice called me, like it was played by a broken recorder. At first I wondered who was calling me but I soon figured the voice came from him. (I cannot survive -bzzzt- longer -bzzzt- If you -bzzzt- me...come.) _

_I didn't know what was going on. Was he in danger? I wanted him to say more. To tell me what was wrong and where he was._

_Tell me. I'm right here._

_(If you hear me -bzzzt-.) He stared at me with those four eyes but it didn't seem like he noticed me. It was as if I wasn't in front of him when I really was. So I called out, hoping he'd notice and know I could help._

"_Hello?"_

_Then I woke up in my bed. The dream was over. _

_Recalling that dream now, I felt like I just snapped out of a dream for a very long time and realized something. I looked back, only to see I was far away from the fight. I thought of a reason to go back._

_He called me. He called me then. He wanted to be helped._

_And I wasn't going to ignore that dream again._

_

* * *

_

**Tobias**

Kimberly just stopped all of a sudden and looked over her shoulder for some time. Before I knew it, she began to run back to the fight between Ax, Cassie and the Hork-Bajir.

I was shocked. What on earth was she thinking? She was going to get captured if she turned back.

I couldn't believe I was about to do this. Do what Marco had been telling us to do the whole time. But I couldn't morph into a wolf because there wasn't any time. But a hawk is a little scary. Just needed to pretend I was in the movie, "The Birds".

I swooped down. My attack took her by surprise. She jumped the moment I dove at her. Not too close. I didn't want to hurt her. Hopefully, she'd keep on running and be far away from the Yeerks.

But Kimberly didn't start to go in the opposite direction because a hawk tried to attack her. Instead, she glanced at me in confusion.

Rats! It didn't work.

"Why aren't you helping him?"

I was bewildered when she said that...to me!

No, no, you didn't give away the secret, I thought to myself. There was no way she could know.

Unless...was she starting to realize what her dreams meant?

I perched on a branch and eyed at her, hoping that might scare her a bit. And maybe she'd think I was just an ordinary red-tailed hawk. It didn't work as she stared angrily back at me.

"Don't play dumb with me. You're the hawk...that's always with that blue guy."

She became surprised, as if the truth suddenly fell before her feet. I should be the one who was shocked. She knew I was close to Ax.

For a moment there, I thought she'd figure who I was.

"So those dreams...are real..." Kimberly quickly stared back at me. "What are you waiting around for? He needs help! Aren't you gonna help him?!"

I didn't budge. I wanted to say, (Of course, I do! More than you think!). I really wanted to help Ax.

But Ax was going to be alright. He's an Andalite warrior so he could fight off those Hork-Bajirs, even if he was alone. He'd be fine. He said so.

Then why did I not believe his words?

"He's in danger and you're gonna do nothing?! Say something!"

She was worried. Extremely worried about Ax. The fuming expression in her green eye told me so.

"Say something!!!"

I did nothing, let alone thought-speak. Even if I did, she'd freak to hear me.

She grinded her teeth bitterly, once realizing that.

"Fine...if that's the way it is..." She wheeled back and ran. "Be that way!"

Kimberly was running back to the fight! I took off and followed after her. To tell you the truth, I was guilty when she said that. It wasn't that I didn't want to aid Ax in the battle against the Yeerks.

He was family to me.

I quickly made my mind and soared faster, watching Kimberly disappear past below me. She was right. Ax needed help.

And I was stupid enough to listen to him.

I finally arrived, several feet away from where I saw Ax defending himself. Two Hork-Bajir cornered him to an area of dense trees. Nowhere to run and no choice but to fight back. Cassie wasn't with him too.

And he was still wounded.

He whipped his tail accurately but they dodged it.

(Ax!) I yelled.

His two eye stalks looked up. (Tobias? What are you...?)

His other two eyes went wide the moment Kimberly dashed out of the bushes, huffing and puffing.

Kimberly saw the Hork-Bajir surrounding Ax. She began to look at the ground around her. Hurriedly, she found what she wanted, grabbed hold of it real tight and heaved it with all her strength.

The rock simply bounced off the back of one Hork-Bajir. That got its attention.

"Leave him alone!" she hollered, picking another rock. "It's me you want! Not him!"

Oh, did that make them upset.

(What are you doing?) Ax yelled. (You have to run! Or else they will hurt you!)

Kimberly didn't move. She didn't shake with fright when he thought-spoke her for a second time.

"...Shut up."

There was a short and silent pause, although the Hork-Bajir hissed in irritation. During the time, she stared down at the ground with uneasiness and resentment. Her fists balled up.

She then glared at Ax. "Weren't you the one who called me?"

Ax looked at her, puzzled.

"Were you not the one...who called for help? Or was that dream not real?" Kimberly continued. "You called me to come if I heard you, didn't you?"

Ax still didn't know what she was talking about but it wasn't long till his eyes widened slowly. He had just realized something he had forgotten long ago.

I shortly followed where this was going.

It was the call. She was talking about _the_ call.

The call Cassie and I had heard in a dream last year. The call that made us figure it was from an Andalite. We decided to go look for him and discovered a dome under the ocean. And there, we met Ax for the first time. The very first time, we got an Andalite friend in the group.

So it wasn't just me and Cassie who dreamt about Ax calling for help.

Kimberly dreamt it too. And she still remembered it clearly like it happened yesterday.

Ax looked like he was about to fall down with shock.

(You...heard my call...?) Ax asked.

Kimberly was a little startled when he said that. She then gave it some thought in a calm manner, her eye shut.

Then it opened with an answer.

"Yeah...yeah, I did. I heard you. So why?" Kimberly questioned. Ax looked at her, baffled. "Why should I run away? You tell me to run but how can I...how can I when someone needs my help the most?"

(...But...that was then-)

"Don't you dare give me an excuse!" she yelled with frustration.

Her sudden outburst surprised us. It was like she had been keeping her anger in till it was ripping her insides apart and there was nowhere for it to go except out.

"I should be the one giving the excuse! I pretended that was not real! I pretended it was just a dream! But it wasn't! It did happen! It did!"

Ax was stunned by those words. I guess to him, they suddenly meant something. There was someone else besides us who heard his call but put it aside all because it could have been a dream.

"You **are** real! I can't ignore that! I can't run away from that!"

She gasped heavily and didn't budge from where she stood. She greatly believed it was her fault, her entire fault for ignoring Ax's call. She did a mistake but now she could redo her mistake, even if she would do something reckless.

But I know Ax. I know he didn't think that. It wasn't Kimberly's fault.

How could she have known it wasn't a dream?

"I wanted to help you...the moment you called me..." She stared at him with determination. And there was something in them that told him whatever he'd say, she wouldn't listen to him.

"Now I'm here to do that."

Ax stared at her with absolute shock. Someone who wasn't aware about the invasion going on, who would normally freak out at the sight of Ax, who didn't know who Ax, or Phillip, really is, was going to stay and help him because of one message he sent long ago. No matter if she was just one person against two giant lizards. It only mattered to her that it was the right thing to do.

To help those who ask for help. To help out somebody who needs to be helped, whether it's a stranger or an alien from another planet.

She wanted to help him.

(…Kim-) He was about to say her name but stopped himself from doing so for many good reasons.

Kimberly took in and out breaths with a slow and steady pace. Her grip tightened on the rock. She was ready.

"So come and get me, you stupid lizards!" she yelled.

She tossed the rock that hit right on the Hork-Bajir's nose.

"Stupid _gaftha _fool!" it hissed and marched towards her listlessly.

Kimberly jumped when she suddenly heard some English coming out from the Hork-Bajir. She was still trembling but glared crossly at the Hork-Bajir.

She got no more rocks to throw. How was she going to fight against a giant reptilian monster with razor sharp blades?

Kimberly brought her hands behind her back. Was she giving up?

One hand reached to the other. She nervously slid out what looked like a Swiss army knife from under her sleeve and slowly pulled the blade out.

(Get out of here!) Ax yelled. He tried to get up but fell back in agony. What was more, the second Hork-Bajir swayed his blades at his throat, ready to kill him if he'd make his move.

Kimberly ignored him. She wasn't going to run away this time. Not even if the strange giant lizard was almost at arm's length from her, breathing heavily at her.

Her fringe went up from the hot breaths down her face. I was surprised at a little discovery when that happened. Thanks to my red-tailed hawk eyes, I saw her left eye was blue. And something else.

They were both glowering with no fear.

Without warning, she raised the knife in the air and pitched it at an eye. Alien blood jetted out.

The Hork-Bajir bawled excruciatingly. He suddenly hoisted his head up, taking Kimberly along for the quick ride as she grasped tight to the knife. A split second later and she dropped to the ground. Her Swiss army knife dropped from her hand.

In shock and pain, he backed away and clenched to stop the flow of blood. The other Hork-Bajir was startled by this sudden attack and hurtled to help his companion, mainly to tear Kimberly to sashimi.

But he made a mistake. He turned his back on Ax.

SWOOSH! I dove down and raked my claws at him.

FWAPP! One blow at him was enough. He was gone before he hit the ground.

Everything was like a chain reaction. Chaos just got loose. Then again, that always happened whenever we fought the Yeerks.

The injured Hork-Bajir still had his other good eye and it locked irately on Kimberly. He gave a loud wail and stampeded towards her.

"I must be crazy!" she shouted to herself.

Ax jumped up quickly but that made more blood come out. I didn't have enough time to go morph into something, to do anything!

The one-eyed Hork-Bajir didn't stop, just kept on going. All she could do was brace for impact or run like hell.

FWAPP!

He suddenly halted with blades inches to her face. The Hork-Bajir didn't move a muscle, not even close shut his jaws. His head shifted to one side and then descended first before the body tracked after it few seconds later. Blood oozed from the wounds.

He was beheaded!

Kimberly took a moment to breathe easy and wonder if it was over. Rustles in the bushes told her otherwise.

Something was coming her way in a slow pace. It was taking its time and that scared her even more.

Whether killed the Hork-Bajir had to be something terrifying.

Out of the shadows, blue fur gleamed.

I felt like something just slapped me across the face. Ax thought he was dreaming the whole thing.

It was another Andalite. Where he'd come from, I thought. It was like he had fallen from out of nowhere at a really good time.

At first I thought it was Visser Three since Andalites kinda look alike but I noticed a crack in his tail blade. It looked like it had been there for some time. So it couldn't be Visser Three. He didn't have one on his own.

(Ax, is he a friend of yours?) I asked.

(I-I...I don't know,) he replied, bewildered.

Kimberly watched the new Andalite in awe. She was surprised there was another just like Ax or Visser Three she'd faced in the warehouse. She relaxed a bit. Just a bit.

"A-are you help to help them?" she asked softly before giving a sigh of relief.

The Andalite's four eyes gazed at Kimberly. There was something that made me wary about him when he did that. Like a bad aura but much different from the one Visser Three always gave.

He was looking at her menacingly.

Kimberly was unaware of that.

"That's good. Someone's here to help ya," she said, smiling at Ax. "You'll be alright now."

The Andalite's tail moved a bit.

"Everything will be-"

FWAPP!

"-fine...?"

Short strands of hair drifted off and a few drops of blood tinkled down Kimberly's cheek from a cut. Her small smile faded and her eyes fearfully went wide.

(Stop! Stand down, _aristh_! Do not hurt that human!) Ax ordered in alarm.

The Andalite ignored him. His deadly tail arched high up, its sharpness gleaming under the sun. Kimberly trembled, unable to make a run for it. She was frozen with terror.

(I said stop, _aristh_!) Ax panicked. (Seize your attack!)

Whoever this Andalite was, he wasn't a friend at all! I flew in, hoping I could distract him so Kimberly could get the chance to run and hide.

One stalk eye noticed me.

FWAPP!

His attack came so suddenly but missed. The blade wasn't anyway near me. But a strong wind rushed in with force. I heard my wing and a rib crack before I realized I was falling.

He managed to break my bones without touching me?!

(Tobias!) Ax shouted as I crashed onto the ground. Ouch, that hurt so badly.

Ax rushed up onto his hooves. Despite the pain surging through him, he dashed towards the Andalite and readied his blade. Even if he was one of Ax's people, Ax knew he wasn't one of the good guys who came to save the day. Not when he threatened Kimberly and attacked me.

Our new enemy's eye locked on Ax.

FWAPP!

The tail came fast, launched right at Ax's four legs. That made him trip and tumble. The tail slithered up fast and hit his wound.

Ax screamed in agony. All four eyes immediately glared at the Andalite with intense fury.

The Andalite returned his one eye stalk back to Kimberly and the four eyes gave her an ominous smile. His tail flexed back, ready to swing it right at her with a lot more power than he did at me or Ax.

Kimberly glanced fearfully. She wanted to scream or plead for her life but the words were all struck in her throat.

(Get out of here!) I shouted but she was too petrified to listen. She couldn't budge at all.

Then the Andalite let it fly.

(NO! STOP!!!) Ax hollered.

FWAPP!

Red liquid splattered everywhere.

I turned away for a second but I looked back.

I couldn't believe what I saw. But I had to. I really had to.

Kimberly was alright. It took her a while to find out she wasn't injured and a while longer to look over her arms.

She stared in absolute shock. So did I and Ax.

The Andalite's tail went right through the torso. Blood streamed from there, down the black latex. They tinkled to the gloves and boots before raining down on the grass below.

She appeared out of nowhere and jumped in the way of the fatal assault. I couldn't believe she did that.

The black-suited woman had appeared again...but this time...she had the deadly scorpion tail through her.

There was a brief moment. We weren't sure if she was in unbearable pain or not in her helmet.

Questions ran through my mind. Was she going to get out of this situation without being that this was the end for her? Was she going to pull through?

Or was she...?

The Andalite smiled evilly in his eyes.

(Hello, Elias,) he called her that.

His tail, still through her body, slithered up and wrapped it around her neck. The blade clashed at her helmet, creating a small cut in the glass of the screen. Then he raised her off the ground, drew her close - face to face.

The black-suited woman weakly raised an arm.

(It's so good of you to join us again.)

CRACK!

A sickening and awful noise came from her neck as her head twisted round. The arm dropped.

The Andalite showed no reaction to that. He lifted his tail up, blood dripping onto his fur and he threw her like she was nothing but a baseball.

Kimberly ducked with a shriek when the lady was thrown towards her.

The woman came hurtling to a tree, her back at its trunk. The impact was so great that the trunk itself almost broke into two. Almost. More crackles were heard as who knows how many of her vertebrates shattered.

She dropped onto her knees and plummeted onto the ground.

Kimberly ghastly glanced back at the woman. She begged without words that the woman would get up.

She didn't get up.

I knew there was a fact here, even though I kept denying that. In my mind, I kept hoping she'd just stand up, maybe even more a little to show she was going to make it.

Two or three minutes passed.

Not even a twitch. She laid there motionless.

"Why did you do that?!" she screamed at the Andalite. "Aren't you helping them?!

The Andalite didn't reply, just looked at the woman without a care in the world and then turned to Kimberly.

She jumped in sheer terror but stopped herself a bit when she took a look at him.

"Wait...I should have seen you in my dreams...but I don't remember even..."

She gave an extremely shocked face, as if she quickly realized something was terribly wrong. Like she just figured out that there was a snake in the grass.

"Who are you?!" she demanded frightfully.

(Who am I? My...)

With that, a mouth formed on his face. He smirked crudely at her.

(Aren't you curious to know?)

Kimberly looked terrified at the Andalite as he began to morph. To what? A monstrous creature from another planet like the ones Visser Three morphed into?

His spine shorted by some inches as his scythed tail shrunk away. Blue fur changed to beige skin and white clothing appeared over it. As his front legs were swallowed by his torso, his arms grew thicker and stronger while his extra fingers merged into five. Hind legs reversed into legs with knees pointing front.

Kimberly stared, astonished to see the transformation right in front of her. Before, he towered over her as an Andalite. Now, he stood before her at nearly 6 feet.

Final touches to the change were hair, nose and two eyes.

Ax and I was in complete shock.

He wasn't morphing. He was demorphing.

Into David.

He slowly strolled towards Kimberly, now scared of the stranger approaching her. He didn't stop grinning threatening at her.

Close to her, David vigorously swung his hand and let nails scratch her face. Ax shifted angrily but was stopped by the gash.

Kimberly recoiled without letting her eyes go away from him, too horrified to react to the bleeding scratches.

David didn't care. He was unbelievably delighted to see her traumatized, to watch her be afraid while we couldn't do a thing to try and save her.

His fingers played with her blood. He was enjoying it.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked.

He drew to her face and brushed aside her long fringe covering her blue eye.

"I'm your worst nightmare," David whispered to her ear sinisterly.

Kimberly was beyond horrified.

* * *

_Few days later, after I had that dream about the blue centaur, I had another dream of being underwater. It didn't bother me that I was somehow breathing in the sea and I knew I didn't grow gills._

_But it mattered a lot that I saw the same blue guy again, this time in a dome of air and this time with companions that were kids. Just like me, only maybe a year older._

_I didn't stare in wonder or in fear this time. I wasn't afraid or surprised when I saw that there was somebody who had come to help him. I didn't ask myself how they got there and many other questions that would forever remain unanswered._

_I was just happy for him. So I smiled, even if no one saw me. Even I...wanted to call them and come and save me from these scary dreams. But that was okay._

_That's good, I thought to myself before the dream was over yet again. You're safe. You'll be alright because they are there with you. I'm sorry...that I couldn't help you. But now...everything will be fine._

_That was a lie. Everything wasn't fine. Everything was never fine._

_The haunting dreams, the day I was without my real parents or my memory, the day my best friend died, the time I've been running from home, every single animal and monster popping out into my reality from those dreams..._

_...The constant question of why all this was happening..._

_The phrase "Everything was fine" was a lie all along. I was being naïve. There was nothing that was terrific, no matter how much I kept asking myself that. I realized that the moment that woman stepped in._

_And I watched her get killed._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: FINISHED CHP 12!!! BOOYAH!!! So psyche! I'm almost halfway (I think) through this fanfic! YAAAAAY!!!

Marco: -plus his ears- Geez! Had way too much sugar! And why the heck did you kill that woman?!?! She was helping us beat the Yeerks!

Now hold your horses there. Just because she's lying there doesn't mean she's dead nor does it mean she's alive.

Marco: So it's not the end for her or it is?

Sorry but I can't reveal anything that says she lives or dies. I leave it to the readers to decide. Besides, if I do reveal, I'll not only get a chance that the black-suited woman will come and kill me but also the readers might murder me in addition. –shivers-

Marco: What'd ya expect? A lot of these people want answers. To add to that, she's a gorgeous looking lady if not for the cold shoulder profile and the guns.

Uh, Marco, are you starting to like her?

Marco: Who doesn't with a hot body like that. I bet if she shaves off that assassin personality and wears sexy celebrity clothes, I might want to date her.

... –shocked beyond words- Marco, I advise you not to go that far (the fact is that you're a kid and she's an adult and that might lead to something for the readers), especially when she's someone you'd least expect… You don't want to fall out for that woman...

Marco: Why's that? 6o

You'll find out in the next upcoming chps (You too readers shall find what I mean). That'll be an even worse fate for you, Marco...

Marco: Huh?!

Well, see ya all in the next chp everyone. Hope you'll enjoy this one

Marco: Wait! What do you mean by that?!

I'm not telling you. That will be your torture for today. –leaves-

Marco: Ah, come! Tell me! Please!?!?!


	14. Out Comes Elias

**Chapter Thirteen: Out Comes Elias**

_Kimberly_

_When I was ten, Mom saw that I started to like drawing. She became excited and wanted to teach me stuff about art during her free time. Bax and I were surprised that she was artistic at that time. She didn't seem like the type._

_Mom was driving us to the art store to buy materials back then and I was looking out the car window. It was a red light so I could see everything around me still. That time looking around sometimes made me think how big the people and buildings were. _

_But the people walking along the pavement didn't catch my eye. It was actually a small brown bird in an alley. A skinny cat had cornered it there with its paw on top and glared at it hungrily. Right there, I wondered if what the bird was feeling. _

_I didn't know what happened after that. The lights went green and we drove off._

_I now knew how that small bird must have felt. Afraid, helpless, knowing there was no way out._

_I was that bird. The man smiling at me evilly was the cat. The cat that happily and finally caught its prey._

_The blue centaur was badly injured. The hawk couldn't get up. I was just too terrified to do anything._

_Nobody could save them from him, whatever he is. What's more...I doubt I was going to be saved too...but..._

_Can somebody help us?_

_

* * *

_

**Rachel**

(What could possibly get worse?)

I said that a couple of minutes ago. The reason was that my day, which I was so looking forward because school was canceled, started from bad to really bad to really REALLY bad.

The morning began with Jordan and Sara, in their defense, 'accidentally' ripping one of my favorite shirts, which I went and attempted to kill them both. Then my hairdryer broke down on me in the middle of drying my hair. THEN I found out the new sale, the sale I wanted to go before David was thrown into U2 like a bag of potatoes, was still delayed because of shipping problems.

And just when I wanted to talk my day of misery to my faithful friend, Cassie, she came to me as a wolf saying that Ax was in trouble and needed help pronto.

I gathered Jake and Marco as quickly as I could – obviously, I had to drag Marco with my bare hands before he realized how serious things were. We morphed into our battle morphs and hurried to the scene.

And when I said what **could** possibly get worse, I soon found out it have just gotten a lot worse than I expected.

Ax and Tobias was down, badly injured and there was David, appeared out of the blues some time ago.

Kimberly was there too, being taunted by David. I didn't know what he did, but the scratches and her frightened face gave me more reason to pound his face to the ground.

And we saw the black-suited woman, only...

...she was just lying there, her head completely to one side and soaked in a pool of blood.

She wasn't moving.

(Tobias!) I shouted. (Are you alright?)

(Oh, peachy.)

I couldn't help but be a little relieved. He still had his humor for a while before he groaned in pain a couple of times.

(Hey, that should be my line!) Marco blurted.

"Well, well. The rest of the Cavalry has finally arrived."

I growled angrily. David looked at us with that disturbing evil look in his eyes. I didn't like this new David.

Then again, I never liked David from the start.

We knew him as a kid who joined us after an incident and he betrayed us. In the end, we turned him into a rat _nothlit_ and dumped him on an isolated place where he wouldn't be a threat anymore.

That was the last we saw or heard of him.

Until now, that is.

"So you've all come to save the damsel in distress, huh? That's very unlike you all. You wouldn't waste your time on this girl. Not when you have so much at stack. Oh, yes. Especially if she has a way of seeing things," David exclaimed.

Kimberly trembled but she stared at him with uncertainty, wondering what the heck he was talking about.

"But then again," he started and gave an insane and intimidating stare at us. "I won't let you have that chance, now will I?"

(Step away, David,) Jake ordered.

David sneered.

"And what if I don't?"

(Then I'll pulverize you!) I yelled.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." He heaved a sigh. "Always the tough warrior. Always the one who fights without talking first. I used to like that in you. I wanted to take you out first right from the very beginning."

The way he spoke somehow sent shivers down my spine. This was something new, a new part I never saw in David. The kid David, actually. Not the adult.

"But everything changes. Time goes on and on and I eventually changed my mind. It's not you I want to kill. No, I want to start with this girl. I want to hear her scream, to watch her cry for her dear Mummy as I break every bone in her fragile body."

Kimberly was now terrified. Hearing what he was going to do, it made her eyes wide open with sheer terror. But she didn't budge into a frightened dash. She just stood still, her feet rooted to the ground. Her hands drew to her ears and tried to deafen his words.

"You're second in place, Rachel. I'd take the pleasure of killing you then. Then it's fearless Jake. And Marco next."

Marco gulped.

"Then come Ax and Tobias. And finally kind and sweet Cassie. So I can admire the look on your grim face throughout the whole killing."

Cassie gasped softly as she paced back in fright.

"And it's all thanks to that woman over there. It was her who motivated me to come after your friend here. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here enjoying my fun, watching your faces as I kill one of you in front of your very eyes. Slowly...and painfully."

Jake's orange fur stood on ends. The more he listened, the more he wanted to take David down and let the tiger's instinct snap his neck in his jaws.

"And I've saved the best part. Elias will get to watch you helplessly as you die, one by one." David stared at the sky, mesmerized by his sick wish. "Unable to save you, unable to stop me. That'll be my thank-you present to her."

(You've said enough,) Jake growled. (Everyone, get into position! Ax, Tobias, morph into something so you can heal!)

"Oh, Jake, the Great Leader," David uttered. "You should know better. I said I wasn't going to let you have the chance."

He raised his hand and waved his bloody fingers.

"Not when I have the upper hand."

Nails began to sharpen as hair grew and thickened into ginger and green fur. The awful sounds of bones crackling loudly came from his arm. Muscles ripened and the monstrous claws stretched down to his knees.

He just morphed, only his arm. But we knew that was just the start. The start of what?

Seeing the monstrosity right before her, Kimberly's mouth gapped open. Her hands dropped from her ears. I could tell there was one thing in her mind right now.

What was going on?

Then the arm swung.

SWISSH!

It happened so fast. Kimberly didn't see it coming. Nor did she realize she was pushed back by force. But when she felt the pain, she clutched a wet spot on her right shoulder and screamed frantically.

David slashed her with that claw.

(No!) Ax yelled.

"Oh, in case you didn't know, I have been collecting new 'varieties' for some time," David said with a sneer and waved up his arm for display. The alien eyes and his glanced sinisterly at us.

(She isn't part of this!) Jake ordered. (It's us you want!)

"Oh," he sang evilly. His round pupils began to change into black slits. "But she is. More than you know it."

I could tell Kimberly knew she was in a whole lot of trouble. Even if we were there, there was a big disadvantage. David had her in reach and one complete morph could kill her. If she'd run, David would probably come after her. If she did anything reckless, he'd finish her off with one blow.

She was his target, one and only. Kimberly knew that all too well.

"W-Why...?" she exclaimed.

David glanced over her shoulder. That seemed to stop his morphing.

"Why…are you doing this?"

His monstrous arm started to demorph. Little by little but still with sharp claws and fur and sleeve.

"Well, well, well. Hear that?" David shouted with glee. "She wants to know. She's so curious to know what's going on."

He glanced at her with the evilest smile I had ever seen. More threatening than Visser Three's.

"Haven't you heard? Curiosity killed the cat."

Kimberly shivered uncontrollably.

"What...did I do wrong to you?" she asked with as much bravery as she possibly could. "What d-did I do...?"

"What?"

He burst into crazy laughter.

"This gets better every second! It's not what you did now or before, lovely," he told her. "It's what you're going to do that pisses me off. It's who you'll become. The things that you **will** do stand in my way. The things that you will **change** and the things you will meddle with. All because you are here! You are present!"

What did he mean by that? What she will do jeopardizes him?

Okay, he was seriously a lunatic psychopath.

(Jake, now is a good time to bash his head!) I told him quietly, waiting for him to give the signal.

"You're c-crazy...!" Kimberly uttered frightfully.

"Really? Am I now?"

He grabbed her by the jacket and lifted her up swiftly. Kimberly shrieked with fright, clutching her arm tight to stop the bleeding. We jumped, ready to rush in and attack. But David had Kimberly in his grasp. We couldn't risk getting Kimberly hurt.

"Last time I checked, I was saner than you are," he spat. "You, my friend, are the one who's nothing but a ghost! But you don't even know that! You're completely clueless about everything!"

Kimberly cried terribly, begging him to let her go.

"But I'll tell you. You deserve to know before you have your last moments." He grinned widely, admiring the thick apprehension in her eyes. "But where to start? There's just so much to say and so little time. I wonder which interesting topic I should pick. Maybe a little something that there is an invasion going on, that there are these little leeches taking over people's minds and ruling this rotten world. Or maybe you'd like to know what's going to happen after you are gone."

A whimper escaped her mouth.

"No, no, those are just the little chit-chats." David shot a mad glance at us. "How about telling her about you guys? You've been so keen on trying to help her. She should at least know who her heroes are before she dies."

(Oh man! He's really going to spill the beans!) Marco uttered.

(You wouldn't dare,) Jake growled.

"Of course, I would. After all, she's seen you every night. She has seen what you did, every mission you did to stop those parasites from taking over this Earth. She might even have seen who you really are and don't even know about it," David explained madly.

Did he know about her dreams? Damn it! This was really getting out of hand.

"But I am a generous man. There are so many more to talk about. I could tell her about you later," he said. "Better yet, I have a great topic to start off."

He let go of Kimberly and glanced at the dead woman with such insane eyes.

"I should tell them about you."

(Why her?)

He didn't hear Marco. David was in his own twisted world.

"How about it, Elias? Should I? Should I tell them all about you and your little goal?"

The woman lying there said and did nothing in response.

"Yeah, I should, shouldn't I? They'd love to hear why after these eight years, you've just have to make an entrance," David taunted. "It was so rude of me to forget my manners. Everyone's here and they're so eager to know."

Eight years?

"I'm going to tell them, Elias. All the secrets and all the truth put in a nice little package. Everything...about you, about me...and about them," he said, turning his cold stare at Kimberly. "And most of all..."

Kimberly panicked and crawled away from him. She hurriedly got onto her feet but she was still scared out of her wits, unable to make a run for it. She backed away fearfully and slowly, watching David's psychopathic glance lock on her like a hawk.

"...It has to do with you."

"W-What are you talking about...?" Kimberly uttered dreadfully.

"You want to know? Hear that, Elias. She wants to know! Alright, I'll tell ya since you're so interested." David drew close to her face and stared down with insane eyes. "That frickin' woman lying dead is-"

BANG!

His head suddenly jerked back and his eyes went wide and hollow in an instant. Red droplets sprayed from a small hole in his forehead as he flopped backward to the ground.

Dead.

I looked for his shooter and I was both greatly and terribly shocked.

Smoke drifted from the gun barrel. The strange-looking pistol was held firm. The left hand gripped it strong, aimed straight at where David's head had been.

But they all belonged to the dead woman.

In the back of my mind, I was shouting it wasn't possible. I must be having delusions. Because it just wasn't possible that she could shoot David with one shot after being butchered.

It wasn't even possible she could still be alive after that!

Could it?

The other hand gave a twitch. Five fingers slowly curled together into a fist before they spread out.

She slowly pushed herself up. More blood dripped from her gapping wound.

Then, something happened. Something strange happened that I knew not even any scientist from here or outer space could explain. Unless they really could because heck! I wanted to know what just happened!

My eyes couldn't help but be wide with total shock.

The blood that was dribbling down in a rapid pace suddenly slowed down. At that moment, they stopped. As if time had frozen them for a second or two and then they moved again.

In reverse.

The red droplets were streaming back into the hole in her torso.

The pool of blood below her began to shimmer. Droplets soon rose up into her wound like raindrops dribbling towards the sky and not to the ground.

She moved her legs and tried to get up. She was slow and sluggish as she got up.

Out of the blue, muscles in her wound started to stretch and entangle with each other. The sound of bones snapped loudly like a jigsaw putting in place.

It was as if watching a part of an anatomy in high speed. I quickly wondered if this was...what was that words I hear in comics geeks were always saying? Regeneration?

Oh my gosh. She could regenerate.

But couldn't she do it in a less disgusting way?

The woman was now on her feet. Her hands crept up to her helmet and clenched her head.

She gave it one strong turn.

CRACK!

She snapped it into place.

Kimberly flinched at the sound, one bloodstained hand covering her mouth in a state of fright. I wanted to scream but I held it in and watched the horror show as the woman stood up wearily and looked at us with no interest in her white lifeless eye behind the broken screen.

That eye turned blue, filled up with cold-heartedness and life.

This was mind-boggling. THIS should be from some kind of movie with special effects or CG! What the heck was going on!?

Torso muscles knitted collectively as the last drops of blood wormed its way through the tissue. Skin grew over the ghastly exposed muscles.

Finally the missing latex from her suit materialized, veiling her smooth skin.

The woman stood there boldly with her strength back. It was like nothing had ever happened. She was never killed.

She should have been.

(We're dealing with the undead!?) Marco finally screamed, breaking the awful silence. (Quick! Somebody get the chainsaw!)

"That was real cocky of you."

The voice made Kimberly – even us – grow fearful. It was coming from behind her and she dared not look.

She looked over her shoulder anyway.

David stood behind her, glancing menacingly with a smirk at the black-suited woman. Red liquid dripped into his mouth as the bullet hole in his head suddenly closed up like magic.

Kimberly finally budged and backed away hastily but she tripped and fell.

David didn't pay attention to her clumsiness. His eyes were deadlock on the woman named Elias.

"Then again, everything you do is cocky."

(He's undead too?! COME ON! How the heck are we supposed to beat him?!) Marco hollered.

David whipped off the blood on his white sleeve, his grimly insane smile never leaving. A great moment of silence hung in the air but it lasted for just a few minutes.

"So what now?" David asked, breaking the quietness. "Shall we fight like always? You the hero protecting these brats and I the villain attending to rip you to pieces?"

She said nothing in response, only glared at him coldly.

Her free hand moved slowly.

"Don't even think about it."

David's hand morphed back to the hideous claw and spread its four fingers at Kimberly. She quivered uncontrollably, yellow eyes staring back at her.

"One word...one word to them and it will be over! It's just you and me. Got it?" he snarled.

The woman, who David called her Elias, drew back her hand down. But the other tightened on the gun.

Then it started to glow white and blue. Just as it did before. Only this time, it changed into something different. Its handle straightened and split apart, creating two instead of one. The barrel elongated and flattened rapidly, its end sharpening into a point.

The neon lights followed along with the shaping barrel until the modification stopped and the black color flushed away into a metallic green tint.

It was no longer the strange gun.

It was a new strange weapon, a sword. A very deadly bizarre sword.

"That's more like it!" he said vulgarly and began to charge, leaving Kimberly behind.

Elias hurtled. She was incredibly fast, her weapon readied by her side. At midpoint, she swayed it at David but he barricaded himself with his massive claw. A couple of vigorous swings were thrown at each other.

At the fourth attack, Elias' free hand gripped on the second handle. She swung the sword with all her might. So did David with his claw.

SHASH!

The blade sliced off his arm and then into his chest. One more swing slashed right through the middle of David's head and the top half flew off. His dead eyes stared manically at us while his grinning mouth poured out blood as his body plummeted to the ground for probably the fourth time.

We gazed in appalling awe. One wave was all that took him down and she didn't hesitate. She didn't flinch and went for the kill.

A minute later, blood immediately gushed out from her side. A foot of her intestines slithered out from a large hole. David managed to inflict harm at her.

She fell on one knee, clutching to the gapping hole. It had to be excruciating pain she was showing inside her helmet. Gradually, the bleeding stopped and again, the wound healed up. Like someone hit the rewind button a second time.

Elias stood up, looked down to see she had finished the job and began approaching to Kimberly.

(Oh no, you don't!) I hollered.

Marco and I rushed in together. It didn't matter if she was ally or not. She killed a person and that made her dangerous.

The sword then began to change.

Then everything went fast.

Marco was the first to attack but she evaded that. Quickly, she spun round and shot a back kick to his blackish-grey stomach. He collapsed a couple feet away by sheer force.

I was coming next. Although her weapon was turning into something again, it was still changing. She couldn't strike back in time.

The grizzly bear is one heck of an animal. Anybody would flinch at how much damage I could do. And I certainly was going to do just that at the woman.

Her left hand swung up swiftly, just as my claw lashed down.

CLANK!

I struck and yet I wondered what was that sound. And a second later why there weren't any deep grazes on her arm. Only scratches on her sleeve and the next thing I knew, they mended together.

What the heck was that arm made of? Titanium?

Without warning, I was staring down at a gun and her cold piercing blue eye.

She was too fast. I didn't dare to move. Maybe I was frightened she'd pull the trigger without hesitation.

"Back off," she said frigidly.

If we were normal kids right now, I bet we'd wet ourselves. No, Marco would definitely wet **his** pants.

But something was off. Since when did Andalites say "back off"? They would prefer words in a professional way like "step back" and being causal was a phenomenon to them. Ax particularly speaks like that everyday.

Was she really an Andalite _nothlit _like Visser Three said?

The moment was tense but I backed away and she withdrew her gun to her side. The woman continued on till she stood before Kimberly.

Kimberly couldn't stop shaking. After all she had been through, she had the right to be so afraid.

"Leave."

Kimberly was surprised. And as suddenly as the woman said that to her, she stopped trembling and stared at her, confused. She waited for a reason or an answer but the black-suited woman said none of those.

"Leave now," Elias said again.

Kimberly was still baffled. She wheeled round slowly and gazed at us with concern. No, she was looking at Ax with concern.

"...But-" Kimberly exclaimed but she never got a chance to continue what she had to so.

Because the woman swung the gun at Kimberly, point blank at her forehead. It came to her so quick that she had only realized it shortly after.

"I said **leave**," Elias demanded in the coldest voice I have ever heard.

Kimberly's eyes went wide with sheer terror. She jumped up onto her feet and ran like she hadn't run before. The woman watched her disappear into the woods, then turned her attention to the southeast.

"Here they come."

(Here what come?) I said and then my answer came in the form of Taxxons and Hork-Bajir hurtling out of the woods.

(They must have called reinforcement before we got rid of those other Hork-Bajir!) Tobias shouted.

BANG! BANG! One Hork-Bajir dropped dead at the wrath of two bullets from Elias' gun.

So that's why. She wanted Kimberly to get out of here before they appeared.

(Everyone! Move!) Jake ordered and dashed in.

(Oh man! Out of the frying pan and into the fire!) Marco groaned.

The green clearing became like any other war zone we've been. Only we had the black-suited lady with us.

Ax and Tobias quickly morphed to heal their wounds and broken bones respectively. Tobias morphed into Andalite and slashed the deadly tail at an incoming Hork-Bajir. Ax chose his North Harrier morph and flew out of the way until he got to a safe distance and demorphed back.

Elias fired again and took down another Hork-Bajir. She aimed at a Taxxon but didn't notice how close a third Hork-Bajir was coming her way.

(Watch out!) Cassie yelled.

Thanks to Cassie's cry, she took notice and pointed the gun at him. Instantly, it modified in bright light again. The barrel elongated and changed as the whole gun grew heavy and meaner with a new look.

It changed into a heavy-duty shotgun. She grasped a slot under the barrel and shifted it with a loud clicking sound.

KA-CAK! She fired next.

BAM! A thundering noise. And the shotgun blew off his head.

She directed the gun at the Taxxon and shot it, then swiftly, she gunned down several enemies one by one.

As I bashed down my second Hork-Bajir, I noticed something moved. David's corpse wasn't far, the bloody sight of his body and his head somewhere behind the bushes. If I looked closely, I'd hurl.

His arm moved.

Oh god! David was starting to regenerate again!

(Jake!) I yelled. He looked, saw the arm and cursed.

(We got to take him out before he recovers!) Jake hollered.

(Right!) I did waver a little but my mind told me not to. No way was I going to let him revive and start slaughtering us.

(You are not ready.)

My fur stood on ends. I heard it. Jake heard it. Everyone else heard it.

It was a thought-speak that sounded hazy. It was kind of like a fuzzy electronic sound in the background when you listen to the person on the other side of the phone.

That thought-speak didn't come from anyone of us or our foes.

It came from Elias.

Her hand was to where her ear would be if the helmet wasn't there. A small flashy part of the helmet blinked orange and stayed that way as she drew her hand down to the shotgun.

(Ok, since when does she thought-speak!?) Marco uttered.

(I am communicating through my transmitter,) she said and turned to Jake. (Call off your allies and run.)

(Don't tell us what to do! We can fight!) I yelled.

(Yeah! We're not chickens!) Marco joined in. (Why should we?)

(It is best to take my advice. You wouldn't last a second against him,) the woman exclaimed. Coldly.

(Well, that's enough for me. Let's retreat.)

(Wait!) Ax hollered as calmly as possible. (Are you an Andalite?)

Her grip on the shotgun softened a little and it descended a few inches. It seemed like Ax nailed it.

A Hork-Bajir jumped at her.

KA-CAK! BAM! Her reaction was quick and took him out.

(I never expected a question like that. Do you believe I am?) she asked.

(...I do not know.)

(Then that is my answer. I don't know as well.)

(What kind of answer is that? How can you not know?!) I yelled.

(...It's complicated,) was her next answer. (You have every right to distrust me.)

(We don't.) Jake questioned. (You helped us many times in one go. You've saved that kid even though there are a lot of questions rising. Does that make you an enemy?)

Elias said nothing.

KA-CAK! BAM! Another Taxxon beside her was shot dead.

(You should be careful. You don't know me at all.) She gave a soft laugh but I wasn't sure if it was amusement or not. (To think a group of children are humanity's only defense...)

I felt my jaw dropped open.

(You know...?) Jake asked in shock.

(AAAAH!!!) Cassie screamed behind me.

David's body had already gotten up and blood was starting to stream back in reverse. But he stood there with half of his head in his hand like a real zombie. It was a gory and bloody scene.

I wanted to throw up.

He lifted up the half and placed it onto of the other and just like before, his two halves patched up as one.

David's dead eyes became alive. He was alive as he had been some minutes ago. We should have taken the chance!

"Damn, that's going to leave a splitting headache," he moaned as he adjusted his jaw. He then smiled, glancing around at the sight of aliens fighting us. "Finally. So they've listened to the message and came running to kill the Andalite Bandits."

(What?!) I shouted.

"Let's just say that an "anonymous" caller gave them the tip," he hinted.

So it was him who brought them here. No wonder the Yeerks came unexpected!

(Enough talk,) said the woman. (Run now. You are going to lose that girl.)

KA-CAK!

"You've been talking to them, haven't you?" David inquired.

(I am enough to take them down. So go after her.)

"I told you not a word!" David scowled and charged towards her.

(Don't make me repeat myself.)

BAM!

The shot hit David's both legs as he tried to dodge. He screamed some foul word at her but it didn't bother her one bit.

KA-CAK! The last shell flung out from the shotgun.

(The girl is invaluable to you,) she said and readied the shotgun with a fresh batch of bullets in an instance.

Invaluable to us? What the heck did she mean by that?

(Wait! Why is she important?) Jake questioned.

(...Because,) she began. (She is going in the same direction.)

Alright, I was just too confused. But before Jake could ask again, Elias took off to fight an angry morphing David, three Hork-Bajir and a couple of Taxxons. Other Hork-Bajir and Taxxons turned their attention to us.

Jake speedily gave us the orders. (Cassie, Rachel, you go look for Kimberly! The rest of us will try to distract any coming our way.)

(Alright,) Cassie said and we went off.

I looked back to see the others scamper off into the woods with the remaining aliens behind them while the black-suited woman fired at one Hork-Bajir and a blur hideous monster where David once stood. Soon, the sounds of gunshots diminished.

I felt a drop hit on my nose and tinkled down my muzzle. Then more droplets came pouring as the sky darkened.

It began to rain. A few minutes later, it showered down heavily.

Half an hour passed and it was like a monsoon.

(Oh no,) Cassie uttered. (I've lost the scent!)

(What?!) I shouted.

(The rain must be throwing off the scent!)

I glanced round with these bear eyes of mine, hoping I would catch a glimpse of Kimberly nearby.

There was no sign of her anywhere. We kept on looking.

But we never found Kimberly after that.

* * *

_Elias _

_The Hork-Bajir snarled in agony and frustration on his back. He mumbled at me the name the Yeerks entitled me._

_The Black Massacre._

_Do you wish to know why? It is because I killed the Yeerk's brothers and sisters without mercy. I gave the parasites no chance to fight back, surrender or plead for their pitiful life._

_This Hork-Bajir controller cursed me in his language before I let a silent moment settle, took aim and fired at the host's reptilian head._

_I stared down at the bodies. A bloodstained battlefield it looked, making the tranquil and green scenery around me tainted. _

_I picked up the shell casings first then searched for David among them. He was already gone when I slaughtered the sixth Taxxon. He would come after the children again but I was not worried. He will take time to make another strategy. He will approach again and I will be waiting._

_I believe you are wondering who I am._

_I am all that remains of the only fighting guerilla unit from the era codenamed 'The Original', recruited by that commander of the group. I am one who has broken the boundaries of time and space with a price that has been paid. I am one who has been sent here because of my visions, by court order of the Andalites._

_They are gone. All of them. The people I knew no longer exist. So do I and yet...here I am._

_Thunder crackled above me. It began to rain. I gazed up and watch it wash the alien blood away for a second time. Cleansing my soul for the second time._

_My name is Elias and I am here to alter your time zone._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: God! I've finished! ((faints)) I must have made this chp dramatic for you readers. Gotta be because I was listening to "U + Ur hand/4ever" by Pink vs The Veronicas and the song really got me cooking up the fighting scenes. And part of it goes to "Somebody Help Me" by Fullblown Rose. So this chp is inspired by those songs.

Marco: Why is it with your writing and music?

Dunno. Seems like I get rhythm as I write. Practically everything inspires me. w

Marco: ...

So the woman lives and her name is Elias. Yeah, I know it's a guy's name. I wanted to call her Alias but it's been taken. Frankly thanks to that name, it gave me an idea of why she's called Elias. And what will become of Kimberly now that they've lost them. Well, you'll just have to find out.

And now great news. Already I'm starting chp 14 and to my great readers, it's gonna be one that answer some of your questions.

Because ladies and gentlemen! The helmet's coming off in chp 14! It's the revealing of the black-suited woman's identity! Elias! Who the heck is she is finally gonna be answered!

Elias: About time.

And here's a little something I'm gonna put up for you guys while I write the next chp. Hopefully you'll take part cuz it's a contest!

This contest is based solely on Elias' identity. All you need to do is put your answer in your review. Your answer can be anything, Andalite, human OR older-version of an Animorph char. Answers are unlimited but you can only give up to **THREE** answers. No hints, it's all random guesses.

The Question is WHO is Elias?

Answer eg:

1) Andalite  
2) Older version of Rachel  
3) Visser One (someone said that, lol)

And the 1st 2 winners who get the right answer before I finish the next chp (which could be the next month or less than that) will win having an original character of their own in one of my next fanfics that will be a sequel after this one.

Marco: WHAT!? When did you decide making more fanfics?!

Since I got so many reviews and couldn't help but come up with more stories. I guess this is gonna be a fan-series after I finish writing this. I can see it as a great challenge for me. AND I get to continue torturing my OCs again and again. Muahahahaha!

Kimberly: ((whimpers and shivers) j--j

Marco: What are you whining about?! That means more torture for me!

Elias: ...

Continue on. You can make your character take a minor or major role of the story. You can make him/her an Animorph or other kind. Enemy or friend. It's up to you if you win!

Marco: Why the heck are you so convinced about this contest?!

Actually, I'm a little doubtful cuz this is a hard question to answer. -o-;;;;

Alright, start coming up with answers, everybody! And WIN!

Marco: Well then. Since it's a guessing game...how about sneaking me the answer? Huh? Huh? I wanna know who Elias is.

Nope.

Marco: ((gets chased by Nessie who appeared out of no way)) AHHHHHHHHHH!!! NO FAIR!!!

Now then, the contest starts as I write riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhht...NOW!


	15. Behind the Mask

**Chapter Fourteen: Behind the Mask**

_Elias_

_Time... Twelve hours and thirty minutes has passed since they have lost track of the girl. Yet, it feels like an eternity. I had expected they would find her in half of the time but the weather proved unpredicted. I can relate myself to that. _

_I glanced down, noticing two of them run past my hiding place. The Andalite, along with a bird trying its best to cope with the downpour. I kept watch till they disappeared into the dark. Because of the dimness and heavy rain, they could not see me hiding in the canopy._

_So they have not given of the search, despite the conditions being their difficulty. But, it is my concern of the results. What will happen was my question._

_What will happen after they have found her? What will they do next? What will their decision be? _

_And what will her choice be?_

_I knew too well in war, the given situation had only two choices: to accept the outsider into their unit or eliminate the threat._

_To them, the girl can become either one of them or their betrayer. However, they should learn that choices aren't made by them but also by the one who has the choice bestowed on oneself._

_I questioned myself if I should converse the boy first. It was my unease that it was a greater possibility he could to choose the appalling one. _

_Whatever the reasons are for deciding it is her fate to join them or be seen as a possibility of being a traitor, they did not know there were more reasons she why should be with them._

_They would learn soon. After all..._

_..._

_I have decided._

_I should talk to him._

_

* * *

_

**Jake**

It was already very late and we still hadn't found Kimberly. We've particularly searched most of the woods and there was no sign of her.

It hadn't stopped pouring since noon. The rain made it even harder for us to look for her. With the night to add to that, it was pitch black. Barely any morph we use could see through the blackness except tigers and big cats.

It was pouring cats and dogs.

(I SKIPPED SLEEP FOR THIS!?!?) Marco shouted somewhere in the obscurity.

We kept on looking.

Earlier, I had sneaked out after I went to bed, hoping Mom wouldn't look in and find I went missing. I met everyone at the barn and ordered to continue looking for her for the second time and be back in an hour.

More than an hour passed before I turned back.

(Ax, we should go back!) I heard Tobias call out.

I peered into the darkness. All you could tell it was me in tiger morph were my glowing cat eyes.

Not far away was Ax and Tobias perched on a tree nearby, his talons the only thing helping him from being blown off with the wind.

(But we have not found her!) Ax exclaimed.

(Yes, I know! But this is seriously BAD weather! My wings can't take the wind! We can find her once it clears up!)

(She is still out there and so are the Yeerks! We have to find her before they do!)

This was the first time I've ever seen Ax so worried over someone who isn't at all his friends or his people. He only met Kimberly in a matter of days and he was already holding himself responsible for what happened to Kimberly.

I doubt anyone of us, even Kimberly, would want him to do that.

(Ax!) I called. He gazed at me with four very worried eyes. (...We'll find her.)

He calmed down a little.

(Yes, Prince Jake.) He looked back into the rainy darkness.

Kimberly was out there in the rain, where the Yeerks were looking too. Anyone of us could only hope she hid somewhere safe.

All six of us returned to the barn, soaked to the bones. It confirmed to all of us that neither of us found Kimberly.

Waiting for us there was Erek. I asked him earlier to look up on anything and everything about the Black Massacre.

Erek is a little different. He's an android called a Chee, created by the Pemalites.

We demorphed back to kids. Cassie tossed in some towels for us to dry up.

"Erek, did you find out about the woman?" I asked.

"I have gathered all the information relating to the alias you gave me, on the "Black Massacre"."

"And?" Marco uttered impatiently.

"It's very little," Erek replied. "No reports on her psychical appearance, age or characteristics. There's not much data about the woman but apparently the Yeerks are very fearful of her."

"Who wouldn't?" said Rachel.

"History?" I asked.

"She first appeared eight years ago. The location was close to where a transportation of voluntary human Controllers was being transferred to a new hiding place. It seems that the Yeerks' old one was right next door to a warehouse that was in possession of illegal weapons. This attracted a lot of attention."

"Which means their secret would have been out."

Erek nodded.

"Bummer. That would have saved us the trouble," Marco groaned.

"But during the transportation, they had a problem," Erek continued. "The location was in an isolated area, although with little vehicles. The transporting vehicle got into a car accident that delayed their schedule. A truck driver and a family were involved."

Cassie looked uneasy. "What happened to them?"

Erek gave a grim look. We knew it was coming. "Sadly, they were killed by Hork-Bajir guarding the vehicle."

To hear that, those people were unfortunate to have cross paths with the Yeerks. They didn't deserve that, like any other people who got involved with them involuntary…or not.

"So when does the _"Black Massacre"_ cue in?" Marco then interrupted the grim atmosphere.

"After those people were killed. I was surprised by the description of the assault in the report. She managed to inflicted damage to the Yeerks with excellent acceleration. She slaughtered the Hork-Bajir in a matter of minutes and left one alien Controller as a survivor."

(Aka the Black Massacre,) Tobias exclaimed from above.

"She was quick, didn't give them a chance to fight back. The human Controllers panicked and ran after that. Three days later, the Yeerks starved to death but the humans were recaptured."

"You said an alien was left alive. Who was the survivor?" I asked.

"You should know. It's Visser Three. He was the Visser who carried out the transportation."

The noises from the animal cages were suddenly blocked out from my ears when he said that. The barn turned quiet. Very quiet.

Visser Three was there when it happened? Did the Black Massacre just let our greatest enemy live on purpose? And why?

"What?! That woman's not the sympathetic type! We all saw what she did!" Marco shouted.

"Yes, she could have easily taken out Visser Three from what you have told me but I have no information what her reason was to back off. But since the incident, Visser Three became obsessed with finding out about her, gathering as much detail, whether fact or rumor, as he could. Thanks to that, I was able to collect the information easily without doing so much as lift a finger."

"God! What the heck is going on-?"

Rachel elbowed Marco to shut him up.

"It does explain why he knows her and why he holds a grudge," she said. "But how come we've never heard of her until now?"

"From what I've found, after the first incident, it appears she only approached to high-rank Yeerks and on few occasions when there is a mass infestation. And there were many times she easily slipped by, even when there were surveillances."

(Vissers. She went after other Vissers,) said Ax.

"Yes. Namely Visser One and Visser Two."

Marco soon became even more disturbed. Of course, it would involve his mother.

Visser One _is_ his mother. Well, the host of Visser One.

"Did she ever fight against them?" Marco then asked.

"Marco," said Cassie, sounding anxious.

"Not really. She only interfered with their plans, which were making people in high profession into hosts and other major attempts to speed up the invasion," Erek answered. "But never went face to face with the Vissers."

Marco wasn't sure to be upset or relieved.

"Erek, how many Yeerks did she take down?" I asked, hoping that would distract them from the information about the Vissers.

"They're pretty big numbers."

"Tell us."

He took a deep breath, as if preparing for the speech. "9281 Yeerks including the recent ones, 954 Hork-Bajir, 1423 Taxxons, 137 Garatrons and...0 humans. All were Controllers and during the period of eight years but these are estimated numbers," Erek explained. "Most of the Yeerks were when they gathered for Kandronna Rays. She did destroy one Blade Ship two years ago."

Those were big numbers and they could be higher. What was more shocking was that not a single person died by her hands.

She killed Yeerks in a number of eight years and we've only been fighting for more than a year.

Everyone in the barn fell silent.

(...No wonder the Yeerks are afraid of her. She's a destroyer,) Tobias broke the silence.

"They have every right to. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine," Rachel said.

Kill, the word was in my head. It was an urge we would always had to face when we morph into a new animal. We'd try to stop ourselves from attacking one another or eating something vile. We had to overcome that urge or we could lose ourselves to the instinct. Many of us experienced that.

I wondered if that woman had the urge like us. But that would be ridiculous, she wasn't not an animal.

Then again, we didn't even know if she's human or Andalite. All we knew was she was a cold-blooded killer.

(So...is she an Andalite? Trapped as a human?) asked Tobias.

"There is nothing saying she is or is not. Visser Three undoubtedly believes she is one. But there's no proof to suggest it," Erek continued.

"You know, I don't think she is an Andalite," said Cassie.

"And why would you say that?" Marco uttered. "She has Andalite weapons, she kicks Yeerk butts like there's no tomorrow and she thought-speaks!"

"Marco, she did that with some gadget," Rachel pointed.

"You're missing the point. She _'thought-speaks'_!"

"Well, didn't David call her "Elias"?" Cassie stated. "It's not an alien's name."

"Yeah, come to think of it, that name's supposed to be a name for a guy," Rachel pointed out.

"So? Anyone could go with a guy's name," Marco said.

"But isn't it kind of weird for a woman to have a man's name?" she questioned confusedly.

(Maybe it's a codename,) Tobias implied.

The more we tried rattling our brains on this one, the more questions we were getting. It was just getting frustrating.

"Alright, let's recap," I said. "She's an enemy of the Yeerks."

"She can recuperate in seconds," Rachel uttered.

"Which makes her and David either undead or immortal," Marco interrupted.

"She is incredibly strong and quick," Erek added.

(She has firearms that have not been invented yet by my people,) said Ax.

(She's been around for 8 years fighting,) Tobias exclaimed.

"And she has a connection with Kimberly and David," said Cassie.

"Which is the real mystery here. What the heck did she mean Kimberly was going the same direction?" Rachel asked. "And she is 'invaluable' to us?"

(And you'd wish we could talk to her again,) said Tobias.

"And get killed by her? No way!" Marco snapped. "I want to live a little longer, thank you."

"Erek?" Cassie was the one who said his name. Erek had turned away from the conversation and was looking at one of the beams of the barn.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I think we should cut this discussion short," he said.

"And why would you say that?" Rachel asked, folding her arms.

"We're being watched."

We jumped onto our feet and glanced around quickly. Someone was in the barn, being a spy and we weren't even aware! Did he creep in above us while we were talking?

(I do not see the intruder,) said Ax.

"Where is he, Erek?" I questioned.

"I don't really know if it's a he or a she," Erek explained.

"It? Do you mean there's something here with us?" Rachel uttered.

"It's not a human, nor any animal I know of in my database."

"Erek, bubby, you're not making sense!" Marco snapped.

"Then how about it's blending in with the surroundings?"

"Come again?"

"It's camouflaging. An effective one at that."

I gazed up at the beams above. "Where is it then?"

"The third one to the left."

"Ax!"

FWAPP!

His tail blade fired and swung as high as he could over the beam.

"Did you get it?" Rachel yelled.

Bam!

I heard the sound of an object landing next to me. I turned but there was nothing there. Just straw drifting off.

Then beady eyes suddenly appeared. I backed off with fright. But that weren't the only thing that emerged. Soon after I jumped, a flat head became visible, following down its body and tail.

Whatever this thing was, it just appeared out of nowhere. And whatever it was, it wasn't from this world.

At fight glance, it was a brown-green lizard, about the size of a big dog. A lizard with eight legs. With horn-like spikes along its back. With eight eyes staring at me.

It was either some alien creature or a mutated freak of nature.

"Grrssssssssssssssssss!!!" it hissed. A pair of what looked like the jaws of a spider popped out of its mouth when it snapped at us.

"Yikes!" Rachel screeched.

FWAPP!

Ax attacked it but it leapt tremendously fast for a reptilian creature.

It gave another furious hiss. With that, it rolled up into a wheel and as if it just swallowed diesel fuel, it spun right out of the barn and into the rain outside. Its blades sliced across the ground as they gave a whispering sound that faded with the rain.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THAT!?" Marco yelled at full volume.

"Move out!" I shouted.

"But we just got dry!"

We marched out of the barn and got wet again in the rain. The only light that helped us see a bit was a lightbulb hanging outside the barn.

"Do you see it?" Cassie cried out.

(It's too dark to see anything!) Tobias yelled.

Thunder boomed above us. Then...footsteps. Slow. In front of us.

An orange glow emitted from the darkness around us. At fast I thought it was a firefly but it became brighter and brighter like it was approaching us.

Someone was coming.

"Get ready to morph!" I ordered. "Anything can happen!"

(Prince Jake? I cannot move.)

"What?!"

I suddenly couldn't circle round. I looked down and saw something sticky and gleaming silver on my jacket and shoes.

"Web?"

"What's going on, Jake?!" Rachel yelled.

The footsteps grew louder. Finally the trespasser stepped into the light.

It was the black-suited woman, Elias. In the flesh. Lying on her shoulders was the freaky alien lizard.

"Tobias, I _wished_ you never asked for her to appear out of the blues!" Marco hollered.

Rachel, Marco, Cassie and Tobias were ready to right. Ax and I however couldn't seem to move tail and legs respectively.

But Elias showed no interest to start a fight.

She began to stroke her hand along its scaly side, avoiding being cut by its blades. It let out some sort of contented alien purr.

She swiftly swung her hand away and the lizard suddenly broke.

Broke like a fallen vase. Into millions and millions of blue triangular pieces blazing in the dark, a vortex swirling around Elias. Those pieces broke into smaller pieces again and again until they vanished. The lizard was gone.

It was like something done by Stephen Spielberg. Only it wasn't special effect. It was real.

Her hand dropped down. Then one of her guards started to glowing. Popping into her hand immediately was a weird-looking sphere as small as a baseball.

"It can't be!" Erek shouted in awe. "That's-"

He couldn't finish his sentence. Elias quickly tossed it up into the air. A loud big bang erupted and light exploded, then Rachel shouted, "Look–!"

It all stopped.

Everything.

I looked over my shielding arms. The heavy rain. Silence. The Animorphs in their battling poses, frozen. Erek looking shocked. Stopped dead.

Raindrops hovered in the air around me.

Everything and everything was frozen. Still. Motionless.

Except for me. And Elias. And the sphere that was now blazing and hovering in midair.

I was amazed but also terrified. It was as if the whole world was a video and Elias hit the "pause" button.

The remote control had to be the sphere. And it looked awfully like the Time Matrix. But it couldn't be...

"If you are wondering..."

A voice spoke. Coming from Elias. It was the second time I've heard her voice. Now I knew why Rachel said she was scary.

She spoke in a calm but cold and hardened way.

"It is not the Time Matrix."

I jumped. Did she read my mind or something? No, a better question would be, how did she know about the Time Matrix?

"It is an advanced replicate of the Time Matrix but only a prototype. What you see now is the suspension of time and space that will hold for fifteen minutes."

Replicate? Freeze time?

"During these fifteen minutes, we shall talk," she said.

I was surprised. All this time, she just wanted to talk to me.

"So," she continued. "Speak, boy. Time is counting."

"...Who are you?" I asked. "Where did you come from?"

"I am unauthorized to answer that question," she said.

"What?" Did someone order her not to spill the beans? "Unauthorized? But you said we would talk! Isn't that what you're here? Just what is your connection with Kimberly? Why are you here?"

"Again, I am unauthorized to tell reasons of my objective."

So she really wasn't going to talk. Then why did she come here?

"However," she began. "I am authorized to show you something...that will give you a reason why you should keep on looking for the girl. This is on my consent."

I was totally baffled. She didn't make sense. We haven't even given up looking for Kimberly.

"See it as a deliberation to regard as me a friend or foe."

She waited for my answer. It looked like I could go this far. If I tried to ask why, she might leave.

"Okay," I said.

A quick moment passed. Her hands then slowly reached for her helmet and slid it off. Red hair, maybe dyed that color and cut short to the neck, flowed over her closed eyes.

She opened them and glanced down with both serenity and coldness.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The cold stare she was giving wasn't what I was amazed at. It was something else that caught me completely by surprise.

I've seen those eyes. Everyday and every time with a smile. But without that wintriness, the eyes I saw were always with fairly odd and constant cheerfulness.

The owner of those eyes kept the left one well hidden but in rare times, you could see it was different. I had that moment when she approached me and asked that one question three weeks ago.

"But...you're..."

A green eye and a blue eye looking down at me...

If they were there, right before me...and the owner somewhere far away...

No. It was just impossible...

But she stood there with the proof: those two different eye colors.

"Kimberly?" I finally blurted it out.

It really was Kimberly. A future self of Kimberly standing in front of me.

I know this was getting tiring but I had to say it in my mind. What the heck was going on here?

The woman said nothing, just blinked once.

"That name," she began in a steady voice. "You shouldn't say it so straightforward to a stranger. You might make a mistake thinking that person is who you think...especially when there are many differences."

"But-"

"Yes," she stopped me. "I am that girl. But I am not. Thus my name is not Kimberly."

My brain was completely on overdrive. Part of the logic she said made some sense. But she looked a lot like Kimberly! Without the dyed hair, though. She had to be Kimberly!

And yet, it wasn't her. There wasn't any hint of optimism Kimberly had. Not even a slice of emotion. The woman before me was emotionless: it was hard to read whether she was delighted or irritated. Like she has been through so many hardships for so long, sick and tired of giving a face.

Kimberly the positive and sociable oddball. And she the merciless and silent assassin.

Two complete personalities. Two different people. Yet the same...

It was not Kimberly who was talking to me. Kimberly was somewhere in the woods, not here having a discussion with me.

This was too much for me to handle.

"Then...what should I call you?" I finally asked.

She merely blinked but took her time. I began to wonder...

...If it had been a long time since she said her name.

"Elias," she responded. "My name is Elias Vanguard."

So that was her true name. And now I knew what the connection was between Kimberly and Elias. At least it answered half of a question.

But I wanted more answers and I wanted them now. With that, I blurted my questions right out.

"What the heck is going on? Why are you Kimberly? What was that lizard? And what's David doing here?!"

"Enough, I do not want this talk wasted on too many questions. The time will come when you are given your answers. Just not now," she said. "I am here to speak with you one matter only."

What matter? There were many matters about her and everything that happened and she was here just to talk about one?!

I looked at her and she looked at me. She was going to be here for a while, then she would disappear, leaving me with questions unanswered.

"You have the privilege of asking five questions before the minutes are up. The answers are only 'yes' or 'no'. In return, I will ask you one question. Understood?" she questioned.

"...Alright."

"You have ten minutes. You may begin."

Ten minutes to ask five questions. I had to be careful of what I say so I gave it some thought as quickly as possible. When I examined her from head to toe, it was then it hit me.

She wore a suit that is like from a very good sci-fic movie. She carried weapons that Andalites haven't even finished inventing. And she's an older version of Kimberly, just like David.

I began to wonder.

"Are you from another time?"

"Yes."

"The future?"

"Yes."

Alright, but that just made things more confusing!

"Nine minutes," she told me.

"Is that man from the same time?"

"Yes."

"Are you an Andalite?"

"No."

Well, that told me Kimberly's not too. But that also meant Elias was human too. 100% human. I think...

Great, I was just as confused as I was two minutes ago!

"Are you here to fight the Yeerks?"

"No, the Yeerks are not my priority," she said. "But if they interfere, I will annihilate them."

"Then why are you here?"

"I told you before. Five questions only. And I've said it before. I am unauthorized to speak the motive of my presence."

I mentally cursed at myself for using up the questions so quickly. I wished I could learn more.

"Now then, my question," Elias said. "Will you, under no circumstances revealing the relation between the girl and me to your unit or her, recruit the girl into your group?"

I looked at her like she was making a joke. But one look at her emotionless face told me she wasn't. She looked like she had never joked in her entire life.

"You're asking a lot in just one question," I said.

"It is not about numbers or advantages. If she is with you, I'd have least to worry about her safety. Also, I know you are considering whether to do so or eliminate her if she were to be like your previous recruit, David."

I felt uneasy. Yes, I was thinking that Kimberly could turn out to be like David.

"You are only doing so for the intention of your secret and the welfare of your allies. You have every right to take her out if it ever comes down to that choice," she exclaimed. "But let me remind you this... There can never be another David."

I was surprised to hear that.

"Nor can there be another Kimberly," she continued. "She can benefit in helping you save humanity. Or she can betray you by revealing information to the Yeerks. But tell me, do you believe she is that kind of person?"

I thought that for a moment. I barely knew Kimberly. Everyone else didn't know Kimberly that well. She was just a normal kid before she was pulled into this mess. Just like David.

But like Elias said, they're different. She wasn't a sociopath. She didn't recently lose her family or home to the Yeerks. She wasn't an enemy to us.

She wasn't the kind of person who'd turn her back on you...

She ran away from home. She was struggling with her dreams that were about us. She saved Ax from getting caught by Controllers without knowing. She was the kind of person who would be willing to sacrifice everything for those she didn't even know, just like she did for Ax.

Even if she knew nothing about this war, she got involved. That was it. I couldn't judge her because of that or our past mistake. I couldn't decide to abandon her or get rid of her just because she could turn into David.

Kimberly was her own person. Kimberly wasn't David.

"No. Kimberly isn't that kind of person. That's why I haven't decided yet," I said.

It was Elias' turn to look almost surprised. Almost.

"If you came here to make sure nothing happened to her that will happen to you, then you're mistaken. I am not going to make that decision yet, not until we find her. And when we do, we'll decide. We might decide to take her as one of ours or we might not. And she can go up to a Controller and tell about us or she can help us fight. Whichever happens, it happens. But I'm not going to make a decision based that she can become a traitor!" I told her. "Because Kimberly is Kimberly."

Everything was silent.

I gulped. Did I touch a nerve?

"Heh," she laughed, I think. It wasn't really a laugh. "So you believe I am doing this to make certain that my future is protected if the girl was with you?"

Well, that's what happened in the movie, "Back to the future", right? Something happens to the future, you go to the past to fix it and hurray, time is back to normal.

"How foolish. That's expected from a child."

Ok, I felt insulted by that.

"What makes you think I am only here to ensure **my** existence? I am not that selfish," she said. "I am securing that girl's existence, not mine. I have nowhere to go, no one to turn to. I don't even have a time to go back. So what is the point of defending my future?"

"What do you mean?"

"How should I say this? Whatever happens to her cannot affect me. Whatever the future will be for her shall not be my future. In other words..." She lifted up her helmet and wore it back on. She gazed at me momentarily and then she spoke.

"I am dead to this world."

The silence came back, this time eerie.

"This conversation is over. Do not tell your allies about this. It is between you and me. If you do speak, boy..."

Suddenly, I had a gun pointed at me.

"There will be consequences."

I had never been terrified in my entire life. I didn't even see her draw out her weapon from her guards. I've never even heard a much scarier voice like hers! It was like her mood changed from composure to killer instinct!

But I stood my grounds, even though I was shaking. I just couldn't back down, not when I have finally talked to her.

Her hold on the gun relaxed and she drew it down.

"It suits you."

"Huh?"

"This leadership of yours."

Tock-tock-tock.

I heard a weird sound. I thought it was a clock.

"But I advise you," she said. "Don't carry all your burdens on your shoulders. You're not alone in this war."

I was awestruck. To hear that from her meant a lot to me. We were just kids, fighting the Yeerks without telling anyone about the invasion. Not one word. We were alone in this fight, just the six of us.

It's been a long time since we met someone else who knew about this war. We met Elfangor back then. And now Elias.

Tock-tock-tock.

Now I knew where the sound was coming from. The sphere.

"Time is up, Jake Berenson," she said.

How did she-

Tock.

Another bang and flash.

The rain moved down.

"-out!" Rachel yelled.

Time was moving again. The sphere stopped glimpsing and dropped into Elias's open palm. She drew it back to her guard and it was gone as the others, who had thought there would be a first attack from her, stopped moving once realizing the sphere wasn't in her hand anymore.

I stood before Elias. She stood before me, stationary.

It was over, the conversation between Elias and me.

"Jake, should we morph now?" my cousin shouted at me.

I didn't reply. I was at a stare lockdown with Elias. If I moved just one second, she'd be gone.

"Jake?"

"Animorphs."

Everyone jumped with fright.

"Oh man! She knows our group name?!" Marco hovered.

"Why don't you use the closest thing that girl has to find her?" Elias exclaimed to us all. "He has a keen sense of smell."

FWAPP!

She somersaulted into the darkness, missing Ax's tail blade. That was when I realized I could move. The web suddenly melted away.

Elias went so high, she would have cleared off on an Olympic high jump. All I could see was the glowing orange screen of her helmet falter in the distance until it completely disappeared in the dark.

She was gone yet again.

Rachel ran ahead but stopped. "Where'd she go?"

"Jake, are you alright?" Cassie asked.

"Y-Yeah," I said. "I'm okay."

"One minute she appears, the next she leaves," Marco grumbled. "What the heck was she here for?!"

(I think I've seen that creature...) Tobias muttered.

"Excuse me... You've seen it, bird boy? And where, pray tell, did you see that…thing?"

(Marco, don't you remember? That's one of the drawings we saw in Kimberly's book.)

Marco's eyes popped wide open in the rain.

"You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

_Jake Berenson, merely a boy in his teens and barely a leader. How awkward to meet one of the very firsts by the name "Animorphs". However, I had not anticipated meeting him this early but considering the events and obstructions, it could not be helped._

_To see him stare at me in awe and notice the unpredicted similarity gave me no reaction. None at all. I have no emotions. I am nothing but an empty shell on the battlefield, alone on this planet and in this time._

_Those children have every right to know more. However, I decided not to reveal information of my reason here right now._

_There will be enough time for all of them to meet me again, to know full pledge of my identity, to ask more questions and be given more complicated answers no matter how simple they are put. _

_But not now. Not yet... Not everything. It will happen later when my mission is finished to the point when my time ends. The moment I speak of my motives is the moment my life is finished._

_It has been a long period of eight years in solitude. No, it has been much longer than that. Now I have met one who has been battling the Yeerks in person. The one who…no. My original timeline has been demolished. The mentor I knew then does not exist._

_Yet, I exist. A small reminiscence from a forgotten time, resembling the ugly future of the girl. _

_But I am not her. I am different, empty but longing to fill up the void. I desire to have emotions, memories, happiness. I desire to take this emptiness away and fill it with what I've lost..._

_I desire the pleasant life...the life that she has, the complete opposite of my existence. The girl named Kimberly..._

_I despise the absence of these things in me. _

_I deride this emptiness._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Hey-ho, hi-ho! I'm back and updated the latest chp! Yaay! Chp is inspired by "Cosmos" sang by Tatu. I'm surprised I've already finished this chp in less than a month. :P

Now then, onto the results of last chp's contest. Although, there weren't a lot of participates, we did have two winners!

And those winners have won to make an original character of their own in one of my next Animorphs fanfic series.

The winners are: **moon eclipse shadows** and **Gerald** from my class group, both great readers and fans of my fanfic!

**YOU HEARD ME! YOU TWO **_**WON**_**!**

The answer to the question "WHO is Elias" is Kimberly. Elias IS the future version of Kimberly! Yeah, the answer is already said in the chp above.

Marco: ((Frozen with shock from hearing the answer))

And only two of you figured that out. I GAVE HINTS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE STORY!

Though, I'm greatly surprised by Gerald's (he's not only in the same class as me in my Digital Media course, but also have great talent at drawing realistic pictures and gives great reviews I am so gratefully glad, btw) answer. He figured it out very quickly before last chp, which shocked me and left my jaw dropped.

Marco: WHAT THE HECK?! Kimberly's Elias! SHE'S ELIAS!?

Took you long enough.

Marco: But-what-heck-how...THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! Elias is a murderous killer and Kimberly is particularly an oddball!

Who also dumped you.

Marco: ((Feels pain of rejection stabbing his heart))

Yup, people. Things are going to get interesting from here on out. Hopefully, this chp has answered some of your questions or left you clueless. But I think this brings more questions like will Elias and Kimberly meet face to face, will the other Animorphs learn about the talk between Jake and Elias and will Vickie hurry up and write the next chp?! And more etc etc etc.

In time folks. Just be patient.

Marco: But you know, if Kimberly grows up to be Elias, that means she'll have that hot body. With that ripe bosom and that juicy as-

Rachel and Cassie: YOU PERVERT! ((Rachel attacks Marco as a bear while Cassie cheers Rachel to hurt him real badly))

Well…that was unexpected.

Kimberly: ((whimpers)) I feel sexually harassed...

((Shrugs her shoulders)) Well, see you all in the next chp! Hope you enjoy this chp!

And to the two **winners**, you have the privilege to create your characters anytime and see them interact with the Animorphs and Kimberly in the next fanfic or two. Your character can have a minor or major role. EMAIL me if you have questions or need help (which may mean I need to give ya small spoilers of what the next fanfics will be about) and when you finish, tell me your character bio and all. If possible I might even draw him/her out too! :D

Bye bye, everyone!

_Pervious Summary: __A girl has run away into Ax's woods and her reason why is because of her dreams. But when Ax discovers they are something unique, is she worth helping, especially when there's a black suited woman watching the Animorphs? A friend or a foe? UPDATE! RR!_

Current New Summary: The mysterious woman has finally revealed herself. Now it's a race to find Kimberly before the Yeerks do. The ultimate choice of recruiting or abandoning her holds in the Animorphs' hands. Will Kimberly turn into an ally or another traitor like David? RR!


	16. Look for the Lost

**Chapter Fifteen: Look for the Lost**

_Elias_

_I left the Animorphs to continue their search and no sooner than that, I was having company. The kind I wished it was all in my head, the kind I hoped it was bothering some other interesting life form instead of me but it was._

"_Now why would you go up to them and have a little chit-chat," said a familiar voice. "Elias the Time Reaper?"_

_The dark purple alien humanoid stood before me, smirking. The Drode._

"_I do not know what you're talking about," I replied_

"_Don't play dumb with me. As if we don't know you stopped time for a mere moment to speak to Jake the Yeerk Killer."_

_I hate it when superior beings watch on your every move. It's annoying._

"_Why don't you return to your puppet master? This is none of your business nor is it the Ellimist's."_

_He grinned. "I like you the most. You are neutral to the game. You don't care which side falls. All you care about was your selfish desire."_

"_I do not have any selfish desire."_

"_Oh, but you did. And that made things so much fun. How disappointing you turned away from that. But that is what makes you __**you**__. The constant urge to get what was stolen from you, to kill anyone who stands in the way of your goal."_

"_You're wasting my time."_

"_You still desire it. Every minute and every second, you yearn for it! You favor to change your forsaken life! To take away the life of Kimberly the Non-Existent and don't have a care about her, all because you're self-"_

_BANG!_

_He acrobatically dodged the bullet._

"_I hit a nerve!" the Drode sang. "I hit a nerve!"_

"_Enough of you. Go back to that repulsive eyeball," I threatened. _

"_You can't deny it, Elias. You know I am speaking the truth. I can't lie. You will always remain as Elias the Time Reaper. Forever and forever! Forever and ever!"_

_He cackled frenziedly and he soon vanished like a ghost. His words were eating me slowly. He was right and that made me sick._

_I cannot have a normal life because of my damn curse. I paid a price to travel back in time and not even the Ellimist can fix it. Because of that and watching my altered version of myself carry on with a life I longed for, I became resentful that I could not have that life. As true as the Drode's words were, I wanted to take it and make it more own..._

_However, gradually, I realized her life is more precious than mine. Especially in a game that was pointless._

_

* * *

_

Cassie

"You've got to be kidding me," Marco droned in shock. "But those are just doodles!"

"What book?" Rachel asked.

(Kimberly kept a journal with her and it had these drawings. One of those drawings was that lizard!) Tobias shouted.

"But that's crazy! What are the chances of Kimberly doodling out a creature that that woman suddenly made it disappear like magic!? Marco yelled. "And I doubt she has seen it!"

"So she drew that thing. It's just a coincidence."

(Prince Jake, you are not harmed, are you?)

"Huh?" Jake blurted out. "Uh, no, I'm not. Why?"

(You have been staring into space for 1 minute and 45 seconds.)

"Did the Black Massacre do anything to you?" Erek asked.

"No. Nothing at all."

Erek didn't buy it. "Jake, she had the Time Matrix."

(What?!) "What!?" we shouted.

"Or at least, a different version of the original device. I noticed it had a dissimilar feature."

"Alright. I know I said it before...but what the HELL is going ON here!?" Marco screamed.

"Nothing happened."

We looked at Jake like he had just hit his head and forgotten everything.

I was worried. "Jake, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Really," he told us. "We should go back looking for Kimberly again."

Marco raised an eyebrow in the rain. "Excuse me but you just had a close encounter with the Black-whatever she is and now you have the sudden interest in finding Oddball Kim?"

"Yeah, why the sudden thought?" Rachel asked.

"She's still out there. If we don't keep searching, those Yeerks will get her first and she'll be back where she started, on her way to become a Controller."

"Did Elias say something to you? You sound as if you really think Kimberly is important to us."

Jake didn't answer the question but with one hand covering his eyes, he gazed up. "The rain's starting to lessen. We can look for her when it stops."

We didn't say anything and Jake noticed that.

"I'm alright. Really," he assured us. "Nothing happened between us."

"You sure the lady didn't just brainwash you?" Marco droned.

We were worried about his respond after Elias appeared but he was right. The rain was starting to settle down after Elias' sudden visit. Just a little. It would clear up soon and then we could go look for Kimberly.

But where to start? Looking for one person in the middle of a forest was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"So exactly how are we going to do this?" Rachel asked, squeezing water out of her hair.

"Woof!"

I looked back. Waiting at the barn entrance was Malcolm, panting.

Elias' words struck me. She said something about the closest thing to find Kimberly.

Keen sense...

"Malcolm," I said.

"No thanks, I'm in no mood to be playing with Fido there," Marco droned.

"No, Malcolm. He can find her. He must particularly know Kimberly's scent better than any other dog."

"That's a good idea," said Jake. "He can lead us to her."

"Malcolm, here boy!"

He didn't budge. He stood there as if he was waiting for the right moment to make a move. I had a bad feeling about it...

I hoped he wasn't planning to run away. I approached him.

"Stay. Stay," I said. "Good boy."

Then unexpectedly, he leapt from my grasp and made a dash towards the woods.

"Catch him!"

(He's heading your way, Marco!)

"Whoa!" Marco didn't see it coming and got knocked over.

"Malcolm!"

"Grab his collar!"

"Come back here, you mutt!"

(May I try a tactic in catching him?)

"Ax, don't! You'll hurt him!"

"No! Ax, do it! Get the mongrel!"

"Marco!"

"I got him – no, I don't!"

"Would someone just grab him by the collar already!?"

Malcolm found an opening near Rachel and made a break to the woods.

(Quick! Morph into wolves!) Tobias uttered and took flight after Malcolm.

We did just that and followed after Malcolm. There were moments, we would lose sight of him when he made sharp turns but we would catch up when he stopped and sniffed the area or Tobias' good eyesight spotting him.

I've heard that animals have some psychic powers that allow them to tune in with people's thinking. So maybe he knew where to find her. It was just a silly hunch. But it didn't matter. His keen sense of smell was sure to find Kimberly in no time.

The rain had finally settled and the sun was out, basking on my fur. In no time, we picked up a familiar scent as we went deeper into the woods. We were back on Kimberly's trail.

It wasn't long till Malcolm came to a halt.

He stopped at a riverbank with a fallen tree as a bridge. He sniffed about for a while and climbed down the bank carefully. The water had gone low long after the rain ended, barely an inch deep, which gave some land to sit on.

I heard soft sniffles and looked down.

There was Kimberly, sitting under the hollow tree. She was wet to the core and shivering frenziedly. The wound on her arm was wrapped with her torn sleeve to stop the bleeding.

She cried.

She hugged her knees tight and sobbed softly in her arms. Had she been there all this time?

She reminded me of a frightened animal I treated before. He'd cowered at a corner of the cage, too afraid that my dad and I had to pry him out to give his daily medications. I didn't know what he experienced that caused him to be afraid but he could never been release back into the wild, not like this.

But I realized that to Kimberly, she had a very bad day. She came face to face to David, got hurt, had a gun pointed at her, nearly got attacked by a Hork-Bajir and had been alone for hours in the rain...

She didn't expect anything like those to happen to her.

Then again, we didn't expect everything to. It just happened.

The others caught up with me and before they said anything, they heard Kimberly's sobs and gazed at her hiding place. Nobody said anything. Ax was so frantic to go down and comfort her but he was stopped by Jake. Regret coated his face as he and Tobias hid back in the shadows.

I watched as Malcolm instantly laid down, his head plopped on the ground. He gave a soft whimper and crawled closer.

After the second whimper, Kimberly lifted her head. Exhaustion and desperation turned into shock for a while. She jumped onto her feet and rushed over to Malcolm, throwing her arms around him.

She let it all out. Her tears damped his fur as he rested his nuzzle on her shoulder. Even if he couldn't speak any word to comfort her down. But then, Malcolm was more that her pet. He was her faithful friend. He was one who knew Kimberly better than us.

She needed him most to save her from the nightmare.

Each of us demorphed on the empty river edge. I slowly slid down the bank and walked closer, hoping I wouldn't startle her.

"Kimberly?"

She didn't respond. Kimberly didn't lift her head up and gaze at me. But I tried again.

"Kimberly?"

Finally, she glanced up with a weary and endless face that didn't seem like she was looking at me directly.

I was very worried. Was she so traumatized from the incident?

"It's okay. It's me, Cassie."

She did nothing for minutes. Then Kimberly's eyes shot wide open in an instance. She bolted and ran. Malcolm tailed after her.

"Kimberly!"

"Not more running!" Marco groaned and we gave chase once again.

Kimberly was an athletic. She didn't care what obstacle was ahead. She just jumped over it and kept on going. She was faster than the rest of us.

I called her so many times to stop. She wouldn't stop. Not even to look back.

It wasn't long before Kimberly stopped near a cliffside, panting heavily. She hurriedly looked for a pathway down but it was too late. We caught up to her and there was no way for her to run this time.

"Please don't! Please..." she begged. "Don't come any closer...!"

"Hey, it's alright. We're not going to hurt you," Rachel uttered.

"No! Stay back!"

A stone crumpled off the cliff by her shoe as she backed away. We froze. She was so near to the edge, she could fall off.

"Kimberly," Jake began, trying to calm her down. "Come away from there. It's dangerous."

"Don't...come near me," she choked. "You'll get hurt if you do...so please...!"

We looked at each other, puzzled.

"Kimberly, you're not going to hurt us," I said, even though I had no clue what she meant.

But we were about to find out.

"Those dreams...someone died..."

I stopped dead at the sound of that sentence.

"I told her..." Kimberly coughed. "But she didn't believe me...I should have kept telling, I-I should have...then she would have been alive...I should have believe they were real...but...but I didn't! I didn't!"

There was intense terror in her eyes. I've never seen such fear.

"Everyone...will get hurt...they'll...be gone...!" she cried, choking on every word. "That's why you mustn't...or else...or else..."

And it was eating her up.

"Or else..."

More heavy tears fell down her cheeks.

"P-Please..." she begged and buried her face in her hands.

I clearly saw her tremble uncontrollably. I began to wonder if she had been hiding the fear all the time, behind that smile I always saw in class.

To pretend the dreams never existed, she kept it to herself and pretended to be happy until it was too much for her to handle it. Nobody to realize she was in pain every time she smiled cheerily.

But then again, I felt it was my fault for not noticing. I should have come up to her and ask what was wrong three weeks ago.

It made me ask the question to myself, why didn't I notice it before?

"Please..."

"But Kimberly," I called. I reached out and held her trembling hands tight. "We're not going anywhere."

She stared at me, utterly shocked.

"You came to my barn with Malcolm," I told her. She shook, surprised to see I knew it was her that day. "You love you dog so much...that you would be willing to leave him with me for a good life."

Malcolm whined, gleaming at his master.

"Maybe we don't know you that well enough. Maybe there are some things we don't know. But as far as I know, you have a good heart, Kimberly. You care about others. You look out for those who are in need. You're willing to run from everyone for the sake of saving them. How can I leave someone like that?"

Her eyes were at their widest, as if hope was beginning to reach her. Those were the words she yielded for.

"There shouldn't be a reason to leave you."

However, they sunk back down.

"But...I...I may..." I knew what she was going to say, "I may hurt you without knowing if I stay" but she choked on them.

"Fine, you decide then," said Jake seriously. "You can keep making up excuses for yourself. But they aren't going to solve anything. What is it that **you** want?"

The question got to her. For sheer moment, she struggled to find the answer. To Jake's seriousness, she couldn't give another excuse.

"We'll leave that decision to you."

Her face softened.

"I want..."

She squeezed my hands tighter. With that, she burst out crying.

"I want to stay!" she screamed. "I want to be with my family! I want to keep seeing a guy I just met! I want to live on with everyone!"

She cried with all her heart and might, even if she had used up all of her tears.

"I want to be saved!"

Kimberly suddenly dropped to her knees. I went down with her and threw my arms around her as she sobbed on my shoulder.

"I don't know...what I'm going to do... I don't know anything anymore... I just don't know... I can't do it...all by myself..." she whimpered. "...I can't do it alone... I can't..."

Poor Kimberly.

She didn't have the strength to do this anymore, to stand on her own. Keeping all it in, she must have thought she was so sure she could save people by running away, so positive she'd keep going by herself without crying over it.

And yet, she came crashing down. Hard.

"It's scary...being alone," I told her and for some reason, I was feeling anxious.

Maybe the thought of being alone frightens me. And because of that, I held her tighter than before.

"I don't like to be alone too. But it's okay."

Rachel kneed down and helped me move her away from the ledge. Jake's serious look lessened and Marco turned away. I gazed over my shoulder and saw a glimpse of Ax behind the bushes and Tobias in the treetops.

"We're here."

* * *

_I confess on every term, I did envy that girl. She had a life I dearly desired, a life rid of emptiness, fear and pain. Free to do whatever she pleads, make the choices she knows will not haunt her. A life showered with love and happiness. That was the life I wanted to have. It was a life anyone, even a detached assassin like me would have envied._

_But there were cold moments that made me realize nothing's changed. Every day, I monitor her from a distance and every time, I saw the similarity._

_  
The same agony when her dreams terrorize her. Unable to find the answers, pleading for someone to come rescue her. To end her desolation and tell her what she should do._

_That was me. That was my past. A frightened child, troubled by premonitions with no one to guide or help her. A girl pleading for someone to come and rescue her, for six certain children in her dreams to hear her and save her from a torturing nightmare in reality._

_Nothing has changed, only the fact that this was a different person living my dream life, escaped from what could have been her fate. And yet, still tormented by everyday fear. _

_Only now she has realized the truth that the dreams are real._

_My jealousy slowly went away before she left her home. I had foreseen the reason for her runaway. The death of a friend tolled on her has finally given her the truth about her power._

_However, she was stupid to believe that all her problems would simply go away if she left everything before. Even now, she was foolish to think that those children could help her. How naïve, she does not know the full extent to her capability._

_That was what I had thought but in truth, I was the one being pathetic. Only a number knew of my ability but that only happened later in my life, not as a terrified child but a heartless woman in war. And instead of accepting their assistance to still my agony...I chose not to and held this burden to myself._

_And what her future holds now...it may possibly lead towards my path. That girl may face circumstances I've overcome. She may lose a part of herself but gain a new power in this war. She may continue on fighting, right to where I stood now._

_I soon understood it...the one thing that wiped away my envy over her._

_...That she and I are still the same._

_

* * *

_

Vickie: Yellow, everyone! Wow, 2 years and I've just got back! So sorry for that unnecessary delay but now here the latest chp…though kinda short. Sigh, kinda wish I wrote a bit longer but I seem to be make some parts short..ah well. Anyway been busy with my studies in DMD and I'll be going to Boston for attachment in 2 months but I will try to update more often so look out for them new chps!

Also I'd like a beta-reader to help me out on edit over these old chps. Haven't had time to relook my mistakes (though I keep changing some parts to make the story interesting) so I hope someone can help me out a bit and the old and new to come. :)

Marco: Can't believe you stop writing for 2 years. I bet you're too lazy to finish one chapter.

Vickie: ... ((Is unaware that she is ready to beat him with a bloodstained bat and creeps behind him))

March: Whoa, wait-!

BANG! BAM! POW!

((Silence for fifteen minutes))

Ahem. Marco is now temporarily unavailable for the next 2 chps as he's currently in the hospital for a broken rib and blood transfer. But he will be narrating the next chp from the comfort zone of his bed. In any case, please enjoy this chp and review!


	17. Knowing the Person Behind You

**Chapter Sixteen: Knowing the Person Behind You**

_Elias_

_The power to foresee... _

_I remember little of it when I first had it...but I assumed it was there since I was born. This ability has aided me many times, predicting whenever the Yeerks will strike next and what the Animorphs shall do to prevent that from happening. When David will attack and how he will do so to eliminate me or the children._

_And more importantly, what my other self is doing right this minute._

_I can accurately foretell everything right this instance. I used to see them in visions at night but in a way, my nightly dreams evolved into premonitions that I can willingly control. Because of this power, I had anticipated the Animorphs would find the girl very soon, if there aren't any interruptions._

_You could call it a useful biological monitor on whichever futuristic scenario comes. Crayak calls it a cheat. The Ellimist calls it a marvel. I do not care what it's called. It is my power, my gift, my burden. _

_My curse. A power always comes with a price, such as that with morphing. Foreseeing the future can give the advantage of being three steps ahead, predicting every move of the Yeerks and saving endangered lives from being hosts. _

_However if you attempt to change what future you see, there will be a twist. You can change a second, a minute, an hour or a day of the future but either something happens in exchange for the alteration or what you've changed will come back. Save a group of Controllers and they end up being caught later. Stop a Visser from accelerating the invasion and another in the current time will have already succeeded. _

_The lives saved are equal to the lives lost. I have always wondered if it was Crayak's meddling but that would be given him credit. _

_In the end, the truth about most of these visions is nothing goes without payment. Whether I try to stop it from happening or can't do anything to prevent it._

_And that is something those children, including my other self will learn._

_

* * *

_

Marco

The day we found Kimberly, Cassie and Rachel brought her back to the barn to clean her wounds again. Ax soon disappeared after they left and Tobias went to look for him. Me and Jake, well, after a while, we decided to head home.

After what happened that day, it took me some time to think about it. First that Black Massacre came out of nowhere and purposely gave me a heart attack with her shooting and karate moves. Then Rachel and I later learned that the mall cop is alive, breathing and without any parasite in his head and the lady had freaky technology that weren't supposed be around in the first place. And finally, Kimberly nearly had a nervous breakdown.

At the beginning, I kept saying to myself her dreams were ridiculous. They were just dreams to begin with but then they became some kind of premonitions that terrorized her every night. And seeing her crack up like that was giving me second thoughts. We never realized how much suffering she had.

When she broke down, I just couldn't bare look at her face. I couldn't help it when I looked away. In an annoying way, I felt a bit sorry for her. I kept thinking she was going to blow our cover when in fact she has her own secrets too.

It's been three days since we've found Kimberly. Jake, Rachel, Tobias and me went over to the barn in the afternoon to find out if Oddball Kim had recovered yet. And you know something, Cassie didn't leave Kimberly in the barn to rest. She let her stay in her bedroom. From what I heard from Rachel, she had a hard time convincing her mom from entering the room where there was laundry to do.

We met each other in front of the barn, barely said any words and just us three humans went inside Cassie's house. Tobias perched at a tree close to an open window at the kitchen. And luckily, Cassie's parents weren't in today to overhear our conversation.

"How's Kimberly?" Jake was the first to ask.

A minute later, Cassie shook her head.

"She didn't sleep much for three straight days...but she has been eating. I was afraid she was wasting herself away."

"She's still traumatized, huh?" said Jake.

"Can you blame her?" inquired Rachel. "She had the most terrible time in her life."

(She just needs more time,) Tobias pointed out. (It's been rough for her.)

Cassie looked about, realizing someone was missing. "Where's Ax?"

(He's at the woods. He's not coming.)

Figures.

"I know he feels awful about Kimberly but he should at least come and see her," Rachel remarked, her tone a bit harsh.

(I don't think that's the case. He sounded like he regretted the whole thing.)

"Poor Ax." Cassie glanced down with a concerned face.

The whole kitchen went still.

I clicked my fingers to snap everyone out of their gloomy faces. "Hey, people. Don't you think we've got other things to think of?"

Cassie then turned upset, knowing where this conversation would go.

"She's been through enough. Can't we discuss this after she's better?"

"I mean, Kimberly can't stay here forever. Your folks are bound to find her eventually."

And that was a good point. Cassie relaxed a bit but began fiddled with her fingers anxiously.

"True, but where else can she stay? She doesn't want to go back to her family and if she goes anywhere, the Yeerks will get her," said Cassie.

"What about Erek? He's good at hiding people."

"Um..." Jake

"Yeah." Rachel agreed. "Kimberly will be a lot safer than being chased by Controllers every second."

"I...don't think that's a good idea." This was new, hearing that from Jake. How could he disagree with that?

"Why?" I asked.

"How should I say this... Kimberly...is still tied to the Black Massacre. I know it sounds bad but if she leaves, the woman may not appear and give us the answers we want."

"Exactly why would a murderous assassin come forth to us and explain to us what the heck she's doing here when she can kill us right on the spot?" I asked sarcastically.

"Marco, has she once tried to hurt us so far?" Rachel said.

"No, but you can't be sure."

She rolled her eyes. "But we got David coming after her. If she stays, she's toast."

Xena was right. David was still out there somewhere. He was perhaps, waiting for a chance to butcher us if we'd even turn a blind eye. Man, was hoping not to think about that danger for a while. At least maybe in twenty years but not now.

Jake, however, persuaded. "Don't you remember what she said? Kimberly's invaluable to us. And she's already involved too deep in this war."

"Jake, why are you so keen on her staying? There are too many things that can happen to her. She can't hang around here."

"Well, she could camp in the woods again," I said. "That worked for her."

Our leader sighed. He couldn't get us to think otherwise. With that, he got up from his seat and headed to the window.

"Jake?" Cassie called, wondering what he was doing.

He peered out, looking everywhere outside. "Tobias, did you double-check the area?"

(Yeah. I did it again before I arrived.)

He kept on looking nervously. "Wonder if she's out there..."

"Ok, Jake, what's going on?" Rachel questioned, crossing her arms.

Jake looked back at us. He opened his mouth at first, then shut it. He thought hard, like he was trying to find the right words.

He then walked away from the window until he stopped at the other side of the kitchen.

"Remember she came to us and she had a Time Matrix look-alike? And...something happened to me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well...she...did say something important to me."

"What!?" Rachel uttered.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" I shouted at Jake.

"Geez, there is a good reason and I don't want to look forward to it."

"You're not making any sense. Nothing so far makes sense!"

"What did she say to you?" Cassie asked him.

"I don't think I should...or else I'll be having a bullet to my head."

I cocked up an eyebrow. Made us wonder if he was about to lose it.

"Come on, Great Leader. We're your comrades and by right, you have to tell us too. What, did she threaten you or something?"

"Something like that..."

"Jake, just tell us," Cassie pleaded softly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You're gonna have to trust me on this one."

The girls and I weren't sure. Trust him? Heck! That woman could have wiped out his memory that time or brainwashed him! Or she could have aimed the barrel of her weird gun at his head!

"Alright, we won't ask," said Rachel.

My jaw just dropped. "Wait a minute, Xena! He won't tell us what that lady told him and you're ok with that!?"

"If she did threaten Jake not to tell us, then it must really be important. But at least give us some clue. And a reason why Kimberly should stay."

"Let's just say...she and the Black Massacre has one very common thing between them," he said and wouldn't go further than that. "But all we know is that Kimberly is important."

"Ok, so got a plan?"

His mouth opened and no words came out again. All he did was widened his eyes and shook his head. "...Not that I know of."

It was quiet once again. Then Tobias broke the silence.

(I know this sounds stupid but...what if we recruit her?)

That, everyone, was a very VERY BAD IDEA!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold everything! Time out! Aren't we going too fast?"

(What's the problem?)

"This is Kimberly we're talking about! You want her to be one of us!? An Animorph!?"

"He's right," uttered Cassie worriedly. "She might not handle it well."

"Yeah, Kimberly? She doesn't look like the fighting kind," Rachel stated.

(What's wrong with that? Think about it, she doesn't have to go anywhere and she can fight if she wants to. She'd at least have the morphing power to protect herself.)

"Plus, she can predict everything we do with just her dreams. We can be five steps ahead before the Yeerks even have a chance to fight back," Jake pointed.

"You got a point there," said Rachel.

"Are you kidding me!? You're agreeing with this!?"

"Well, there's no other option but to recruit her, Marco," said Jake

"You're not thinking straight. You got threatened few days ago! Recruiting Oddball Kim is totally a bad idea! I'm against it!"

(Are you sure you're not still hung over what Kimberly did to you-)

"God, people! Drop it! This matter is not me, it's how can we guarantee she won't be like David!"

That really silenced everybody up. They suddenly looked at me like I stepped on a thin line. But it was the truth, they knew it. It's been barely a month since young David found the cube, tried to sell it only to get the Yeerks right at his front door, be recruited by us and then betrayed us all.

The girls frowned – both differently – at the thought of another traitor and Tobias said nothing outside. Jake however, looked as calm as ever.

"But Kimberly is Kimberly," said Cassie. "She's not a monster. She's just scared."

(Yeah, how can you say she'll turn into David?)

"Then can she be trusted with this amazing power? We can't take the chance if she turns her back on us!" I continued.

Rachel sighed. What she would say next would make her regret herself on the spot. "You're right about that."

"Rachel!" Cassie yelled.

"I'm sorry but he is right! It's only been weeks since we got rid of David. Having a new recruit so soon...might be a bad idea."

"So you two are saying we should get rid of her too?"

"That's harsh, Cassie," I said. "But she just can't be one of us-"

"Then don't!" She stood up, banging her hands on the table. "Kimberly didn't want anything of this to happen. All she wanted was to be saved from her dreams!"

I had never seen her throw her temper like that. It shocked me and Rachel.

"Cassie-" Rachel started but was cut short by Jake.

"Then how about a vote?"

(How can you think of voting at a time like this?)

"Well, this discussion isn't going to end without a vote. It's better than arguing to no end."

"Fine," I said. We would probably go on for eons anyway.

"All those who's against recruiting her."

"Do you have to ask me? Of course, I'm against it."

"I'm in," Rachel uttered."

"All those who thinks she should stay."

Cassie looked unsure. "I do...not because she should be one of us but because she needs us."

(Same vote too.)

"That's 2 against 2."

"Wait, what about you?" I asked.

"I already made a vote. It's neutral."

"...Oh our great leader," I droned. "Good joke but seriously, pick one."

"I'm not joking."

Alright, it's confirmed. He has lost his mind.

"Then it's a tie," said Rachel. "You've got to choose one, Jake."

"Yeah," I said. "You can't be indecisive now."

"I'm not going to change my vote."

"We'll still argue on if we don't put an end to it."

"If that's the case, let me tell you something someone told me," he continued. "There can never be another David."

That caught us four off guard.

"Nor can there be another Kimberly."

And that got us too.

"She can or can't be like David but before you say anything, answer this. Do you really think she's that kind of person?"

We said nothing. He struck us hard with that question and the answer was biting back at me. Kimberly was an oddball, a clumsy girl who was always cheery for no apparent reason. That was the side we saw at school. The other side was her misery, her wanting to be taken away from that but she was willing to sacrifice that and run away just so that nobody would get hurt from her dreams.

David was totally the opposite.

"And you think she won't betray us?" I asked.

"There's nothing to prove she will," was his straight answer.

"But what if-"

"If she does, then we'll stop her. We did it once and we will do it again. But for now, we shouldn't judge her just because of our mistake. She's involved in this, so she needs to choose too."

Another moment of silence hung in the air.

"She can choose to fight, deceive us or run away," said our leader seriously. "It's up to her."

"...Alright. You've convinced me," Rachel uttered, folding her arms. "She really isn't the bad type anyway. But I want to say we should keep watch on her."

"Hey, Xena. You've been changing your mind a lot. What gives?"

"Something wrong with what I think?" she hissed. "I do think she may be trouble but I don't want to think that way. After everything that has happened, I've been having second thoughts. I guess I want to keep an open mind about her."

"That's a first, coming out from you."

"Do you really want to irritate me more?"

Cassie looked much better, her grimace turned into a beam. "My vote stays the same."

(Ditto.)

"Marco?"

They all looked at me once more, waiting for an answer. Great, down to 1 vote and I had to change it. The reasons were all there like a straight flush thrown on the table and I had bad cards in my hand.

And those reasons were right.

"I cannot believe I'm saying this...ok, fine." I gave in, rolling my eyes.

"That's 4 votes. I'm changing my vote too."

"You never did vote 'neutral', did you?"

(Better make it 5. I'm sure Ax would want that. He'd be happy,) said Tobias.

Jake smiled. "5, it is. She stays. Now all we need is her answer. If she joins, we give her the morphing power. If not and she just wants nothing to do with it, we'll keep her safe."

"I still think this is a bad idea. And if it goes bad, I want nothing to do with it," I told them truthfully.

(Marco, we think you're just upset about what Kimberly did to you.)

"Why are you all so persistent? I keep telling you all that's not the reason! And if it was that reason, not that I'm saying it is, she could have said it gently!"

"Right, like she would to you," Rachel remarked.

"You know, you could have just asked any other girl to the dance," said Jake.

"Instead, you picked Kimberly."

"Well, I did have one in mind. She was one of Oddball Kim's best friends. But I couldn't find her before the dance. I don't even know her name-"

"Her name was Lauren Brown."

We turned our heads. Standing there was Kimberly in clean clothes Cassie had given. Cassie was right about earlier, she wasn't doing so good. Kimberly hadn't recovered much and certainly not enough. Her black ring under her green eye became darker than they were before. Beside her was Malcolm, sitting as close as possible to his master. Apparently, Cassie let him in from the barn earlier in hopes he'd cheer her up.

Her face was hollowed with gloom and she was staring straight at me with that face for some reason.

"She sat behind you in Science every Tuesday and Friday."

"Kimberly, you shouldn't be out of bed. You still need rest," Cassie told her as she got up from her seat and took her hand to bring her back to rest.

She jerked it away and didn't take her eye off of me. That surprised Cassie, making her wonder if she had upset her.

"What's with the attitude?" I uttered. And what was with the past tense?

Kimberly didn't hear. Or at least she didn't want to listen.

"Lauren was my best friend. She lived next door to me... Lauren liked reading and swimming...loved music more than the next person. She would play her CD player and sing along with the lyrics..."

She bit her lower lip, trying her best not to cry.

"She was proud and...always active. She would admit everything that's bad about her without a care in the world...like the time she was afraid of a spider and asked me to get rid of it...or the time she ran to my house because she couldn't face her father shouting at her for a bad grade..."

The whole kitchen fell silent again. I thought that was the end of it. It wasn't.

"And the time she wanted to tell someone she liked him...but was just too afraid to. And she always would say, "You know me...I'm just yellow"."

She never let her gaze down. She kept on staring at me, ignoring everything else around her.

"And your point?"

Man, did I say the stupidest thing. Those words got her mad. Kimberly grounded her teeth and glared at me angrily. Before I knew it, she walked right to me.

SLAP!

And slapped my face.

"Ouch! What was that-"

POW!

Her balled fist whacked right at my jaw. I, not even the others, couldn't believe what just happened. I just got punched in the face by a girl. And by Kimberly, for that matter.

I fell on the linoleum floor. Hard.

"Marco! Are you alright!?" Cassie shouted.

"What's your problem? You didn't have to punch him!" Rachel yelled and tried to hold her back.

Kimberly didn't care. She was too angry at me.

"You jerk!" Kimberly screamed at me. Tears started to pour down and I didn't know why she was crying about.

"Kimberly, calm down!" hollered Jake.

Then we were stopped by what she said next.

"How could you ignore her!? How could you not tell it was you who she liked? She sat behind you! Always behind and you never looked back at her!"

I was shocked at what she said. The girl behind me...Lauren liked me? Liked like me?

"She always laughed at your jokes! She always told me how she felt about you but never had the guts to tell you! Because she was frightened you wouldn't like her! Because of the stupid rumors about her!"

But I wouldn't do that. That was what I wanted to tell her. But this time, I kept my mouth shut.

There were rumors about Lauren. How her parents drove her to exhaustion to be top student and their future cash cow, only to land in hospital three times. How she was seen with an older guy and thought to be his girlfriend.

And the latest rumor was she ran away because her father was doing something bad to her. But that one turned out to be a lie when Kimberly said the awful truth right before me.

"But she died!"

Dread took hold of me. All of us. Cassie covered her mouth with anguish in her eyes. Jake and Rachel couldn't say a thing, too alarmed by the sudden news of a classmate's death. Tobias, even though he was a hawk with no expression, was just as shocked as we were.

"Three weeks ago, she died from cancer! And nobody knew about that! She didn't tell anyone she was sick because she wanted to study hard so that her parents could be proud of her!"

Kimberly couldn't stop crying.

"But I knew! I saw her in my dreams! I told her something bad would happen but she thought it was my imagination! And I didn't keep telling her! I was the only one from school who went to her funeral! It's my fault she'd dead. Because of that, I'm a terrible person!"

Cassie tried to speak. "Kimberly-"

"But you," Kimberly snapped at me. "You're the worse!"

Me? Worse than her?

"You're worse than her father! You're worse than anyone!"

"What-" I spoke out.

"You asked me to the dance instead of her!" she sobbed loudly. "That's why I said no. If I said yes to you, I'd be betraying Lauren! How could I go through with that!? She's my best friend!"

She gave me her reason why she wouldn't go out with me. All because she didn't want to be a traitor to her dead friend.

"Isn't that the same if I betray you!?"How How

She overheard us. She heard we would react if she let us down just as she felt she would when I asked her one question three weeks ago: to go out with me to the dance.

"That's why I said no. I never wanted to hurt Lauren and I don't intend to... Lauren liked you. You should have asked her!"

"I...I didn't know."

"Didn't know!?" She shoved Rachel aside and grabbed me by the shirt. Her angry green eye pierced into me like a dagger. "How could you not know!? She was behind you for so long! That's why I asked your friend if there was nobody going out with you! So that I could push her forward to meet you!"

Jake gave a shocked face.

"She was supposed to go out with you! If you'd ask her, it'll make her so happy! Even if she was going to die, she would have been thrilled! So why didn't Lauren go out with you!? Why did it turn out to be me!? Why didn't you choose her!?"

Why?

Because before the dance, Jake came up to me and said Kimberly asked if I was going out. Because I thought she wanted me instead of any other guy. Because I couldn't find the one I wanted to ask first anywhere at school so I figured I should just ask Kimberly to the dance. That was why I chose her and didn't try harder to find Lauren.

"Answer me, Marco!"

But I couldn't say them to her.

"ANSWER ME!"

I just couldn't.

Rachel grabbed her arms and pulled her back as she kept on yelling at me, crying her heart out. Jake helped out but Kimberly pushed them away and marched out of the kitchen, Malcolm following her. Cassie tried to stop her but she looked down at me. So did Jake and Rachel.

I did nothing but sit there, taking it all in.

"Marco, you ok?" Jake asked.

Jake, you knew the answer. I wasn't. I found out a lot of things. I felt like I was being eaten by everything Kimberly had told me. And it came to one conclusion.

"So basically...it's my fault."

It hit me, more painful than the slap and punch I got. I couldn't joke about it. I couldn't deny it, not even ignore it. It was just like the time I found out my mom became Visser One. But this time was different. I could have done something.

Right there on the kitchen floor, I wondered...had I asked Lauren out, would she be delighted even though she wouldn't have made it to that night? Would Kimberly have not run away in the first place if her friend was happy to have been asked by me?

Before anyone could say something, we heard the back door slam.

(Not good! Kimberly just ran out with her dog!)

"Not again!" Rachel. "Doesn't she know when to stop?"

"All the more reason not to," I said blankly. I didn't care much to drone on with sarcasm.

"...Marco, it's not your fault. You didn't know," Cassie explained.

"Shouldn't it be my fault? She was right behind me and all I had to do was just look back and notice her. I could have asked something to borrow from her. I could have talked to her, say "Hello, I'm the funny guy who sits in front of you," to her. But I didn't because of those rumors I heard..."

"So? You're no different than us. We heard about them," Jake stated. "But they're just rumors."

"Rumors or not, I should have done something. Maybe Kimberly wouldn't have run away and found out about this war."

"Marco..." He patiently took time to say the right words to me. "Things happen. We didn't know about Kimberly's friend from the beginning."

I said no reply.

"Tobias, follow Kimberly and keep an eye on her."

(On it.)

"We need to catch her again," he ordered. "She's not safe out there without us. Come on."

Jake and Cassie ran out of the kitchen, leaving me and Rachel behind. I didn't feel like getting up. Getting up meant I'd have to face Kimberly again and get that angry face from her. And I would have to think about that girl I didn't know about.

And the more I would think about her, the more I'd feel disgust to myself.

"Are you going to sit there all day?"

"Feels comfortable. So it doesn't seem like a bad idea," I told Rachel.

She folded her arms. "This isn't like you. You should be saying something comical by now, shake it off and join us."

I heaved a deep sigh. She was right about that but I didn't feel like joking around still time. "This fight...we are so focused on the Yeerks that we never take time to see everything else. I've been too busy to notice anything."

Morphing, fighting the bad guys, trying to cope with the amount of homework. Joking about making it out alive to see the next day and hope nothing bad happens.

But bad things did happen to Lauren and she was right behind me in class. I should have seen it coming.

"...I think I know what kind of person Kimberly's like. She's the kind who doesn't know who to blame."

I looked at Rachel with a raised eyebrow. Why was she going with this?

"Do you know why? I was like that. I know what it's like losing someone," she said and let out a sigh. "...When my parents divorced, I couldn't stop thinking who's fault was it that they divorced. Me, my sisters, my mom or my dad? I wanted to blame someone...but in the end, there's just nobody for me to blame."

"Is that supposed to make me better? You all saw her get mad at me."

"And I know right now, she feels awful," Rachel explained. "She will realize what she did and when she does, she's going to feel sorry and take the blame on herself for everything. I did that too but Kimberly, she's going to get worse... So c'mon. Get up." She held her hand to me. "You, me, and the others are going to look for her. And when you see her, tell her you're sorry too."

I looked at her like she had gone crazy. What, I have to say sorry to Oddball Kim?

"There was nobody to help me then. I had to grow up on my own. But Kimberly is not like me. She's not strong enough to do that. She needs to hear from someone it's not her fault or anyone's fault for that matter. So tell her what you just said and that you're are as sorry as she is. Then you both can stop blaming yourselves."

"What makes you so sure it'll make us feel better?"

"...If it was me who died, I wouldn't want anyone to be upset over me."

I didn't like the sound of that. The word 'died' coming out from Warrior Princess Xena.

"And Lauren would probably not want you or Kimberly to."

"...Isn't that what we all wouldn't want if we died?" I said. If I died, Dad would be devastated. If anyone else died, I'd be miserable about it.

Lauren passed away, leaving this world too suddenly. And thanks to Rachel's words, even if I didn't know her that well, she'd not want the guy she really liked to sad about her.

"I now hate something about you," I told her.

"What's that?"

"You counseling me."

"Is that so? Well, I hate this ugly side of you. This is going to be the first and last time I'm helping you like this."

I felt a bit better. "Yeah, and the same goes for the horrible side of me."

"So are you getting up or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses, Xena," I got up slowly and rubbed the sore on my chin. "But you know it's not my nature to apologize. Even to that oddball."

"I know that. That's why I'm going to make you say sorry to Kimberly."

I smirked. Forceful but she gets her way.

Because of that, I realized the truth. I couldn't blame myself. There was nothing I could have done if I had notice the brunette with brown eyes who sat behind me every Tuesday and Friday. I could have made her happy before she died from cancer but that would have been as far as I could go. Like Jake said, things happened.

But there was something I could now. Maybe it could make it up for the mistake I made. Maybe it would make Lauren pleased if I did it. Maybe not. But it was better than nothing.

I'd talk to Kimberly.

"Alright, let's look for her...yet again." I droned and we both went out the back door.

* * *

_Realizing something that seemed impossible is the hardest thing to accept but when you are in a conflict like this, nothing is impossible. Not even to me. Henceforth, those dream-like prophecies begin to seem less unfeasible as time goes on._

_For once, those children now believed my other self was telling the truth. Her dreams were true. They could somehow predict something would happen when they shouldn't. However, it cost her best friend for them to realize that. And at that moment, they would not give up on her or cast her aside in fear of losing loyalty to their team. _

_That is what I called ignorant. They have no idea what they will gain or lose with the usage of my young self's power._

_Then again, neither do I. The power I have, I can't foretell what would happen if she'd fight these battles or run in fear. Ironic. _

_I couldn't predict so all I could do is think. My other self is still young, her ability still new. Those children are young, much too young to be thrown into the battlefield. As they fight, they will make one mistake with or without her foresight and be torn down at their failure. However, they cannot stop in a continuing war and have to stand up to fight, hoping they can correct their mistakes by winning._

_And during their long fight, they are willing to reach out and held my other self onto her feet._

_In the Original, such thing never happened to me. I was involved in this war long when I was a child. I had no one to help me in the beginning and in the end, I relied only on myself. Has been that way ever since. There were several times when I was not alone in the battlefield...several times, my comrades in the __guerilla unit had done the same thing as these children were about to do but I rejected their offer because...I knew I cannot be saved, no matter how many times I fell in this war. I kept pushing myself and fought on. Even now, I regretted having not taken their hands to lift me up. _

_I guess that is why I want those children to enlist her: so she can have a chance to be saved._

* * *

Vickie: Hey, everyone! Latest chp is up and running! :D The best parts are gonna come right after this chp! It's action time! Woo-hoo!

I'm still kinda sad I've been having few reviews (which I do appreciate! Thank ya all) but I wish for more...PLEASE PEOPLE! I BREATHE ON REVIEWS! jxj

Anyhow, I'm planning to draw out what seems like an Animorphs book cover and an advertisement on this fanfic of mine to get more readers...which I hope will work. Fingers cross if I can make it into a nice masterpiece. I'll put up the link for you all to see when I'm done.

(crickets in the background)

...Ok, it's kinda lonely without Marco to torture but hey, good news. He'll be back from the hospital in the next chp so till then, ciao!

(At the hospital, Marco groans with a predicting omen in his sleep)


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